


Stars and Stripes and Stars

by Ms_Understood94



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: All Human, Annabeth is like a badass cross between Taylor Swift and Rihanna, Celeb!Annabeth, F/M, Percy is basically Michael Phelps, Some Swearing, minor mentions of abuse, some perachel, swimmer!percy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-21
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2018-08-10 01:59:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 45,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7825819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ms_Understood94/pseuds/Ms_Understood94
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Percy Jackson is the best swimmer to have ever lived. Annabeth is a successful pop-star.</p><p> Watching him swim, Annabeth may have developed a small (large) crush on him. What happens when they're forced to host a fundraiser together?</p><p>--------------------<br/>AU where Percy is basically Michael Phelps and Annabeth is a kick-ass singer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all! So with the Olympics being on these past few weeks, I just randomly got the idea for this fic. I know I haven't been great about updating things in a while, but I'm hoping to add at least a few more chapters to this story. 
> 
> This is also my first time ever writing a fic entirely from first person POV. Hope you like it!

“Seriously Piper, why am I going to a swimming meet again?”

“Annabeth. This is not just any swimming meet, this is the _Olympic trials_ for heaven's sake,” Piper replied indignantly.

When I stayed silent, Piper took that as a cue to continue talking, “These are some of the greatest swimmers in the world. Percy freaking Jackson is going to be there, aren’t you excited for that at all?”

This did pique my interest a bit. Percy Jackson was world-renowned as one of the best swimmers of all time. Hell, he was probably one of the best athletes of all time. At the last Olympic games, he won 8 gold medals at the age of 18. That was the most for any Olympian, and he was just 18.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have a bit of a crush on him during that Olympics, but let’s be honest- everyone did. Rumor was that he had gotten even stronger over the last 4 years, and was poised to dominate the Olympics this year in Paris.

“Okay I guess he’ll be pretty cool to see,” I replied finally, “I just don’t particularly know that I’ll be able to sit through a whole swimming meet. And I’m a bit nervous about the paparazzi being on my tail here.”

Piper waved me off, “Oh please. They all still think you’re in Europe recording your new album. And I brought a wig and hat just in case. Trust me darling, I know how to manage the paparazzi for you.”

She winked at me, which made me grin. I never would understand how I got so lucky to have someone as amazing as Piper as my manager.

My thoughts drifted back to the swim meet as we made our way through Los Angeles traffic. The thought of seeing a shirtless Percy Jackson in person crossed my mind involuntarily. This probably wouldn’t be so bad, right?

* * *

As we pulled into the parking lot, I pulled the brunette wig over my blonde curls and settled the hat on top. Taking a quick glance in the rearview mirror, I deemed my appearance acceptable for the public eye.

Just as I was about to step out of the SUV, Piper grabbed my wrist.

“Hey, there’s one other thing I forgot to tell you about why you’re here. Your fundraiser tonight? Well Percy has kind of been added as a second host.”

“WHAT?” I whipped my head around so fast I almost lost both the wig and the hat.

“I know, I know. I should have told you sooner-”

“You think??” I interjected.

“But it was all very last minute. I got a call from Percy’s manager, who had heard of your fundraiser, and Percy supports the same organization quite intensely and it just so happened he was in town and he asked if he could help out. Apparently, everyone is quite excited and his manager and the fundraising host think that his appearance could really help boost donations.”

Piper looked at me with her puppy dog eyes, and I could tell that she really had acted in my best interest. I put my head down and rubbed my temples as I thought.

“Ugh. Fine.”

“Wait, you’re okay with this?? I thought I was going to have to spend the whole meet trying to convince.”

“It’s whatever, can’t really change it now. Just in the future? I would appreciate a little bit of heads up, especially if someone I’ve never met is added on as a co-host for my benefit.”

Piper moved to get out of the car, which I took as cue that the conversation was over. As I walked to the front to meet her, something clicked in my mind,

“Hey, did you bring me here so that I wouldn’t be able to throw a fit or run away?”

She just smirked in return, and laced her arms with mine as she steered us towards the gate.

* * *

When we finally settled into our seats, I realized how glad I was that Piper purchased the VIP seats. Normally, I didn’t like to do stuff like that, because I tried to keep myself grounded. Though I loved having a professional singer career, I sometimes hated the special treatment people thought I deserved. I was really just a normal person, or at least I tried to be.

This was one instance where I was happy I wasn’t in the normal seats. The majority of the tickets appeared to be general admission seats in crowded bleachers. I would have been worried about conversation being heard or my wig getting caught on someone’s bag or something. I had gotten used to laying low from the paparazzi the last few months, and I definitely needed an easy transition back into that lifestyle.

Our seats were each individual chairs that were down right near the finish on the sideline so we’d be able to see all of the action perfectly.

I whispered my thanks to Piper as I glanced around the arena. The first race was coming up in just about 10 minutes, and the swimmers were being announced one by one. Annabeth wasn’t really paying attention until the roars of the crowd snapped her to attention.

“Percy Jackson,” the announcer boomed. The crowd was so loud I could barely hear my thoughts thoughts.

He stepped out from the locker rooms from an opening almost directly across from me. My heart stopped.

His jet black hair was sticking up all over the place, clearly mussed up from his warm ups. His green eyes were sparkling in amazement as he looked around at the crowd. And his body- my god.

I chided myself for looking at a man so objectively, but it was hard not to notice just how ripped he was. His chest and abs were so sculpted they looked like something out of an art museum. Also, he was just deliciously lanky. That probably sounds weird, but I’ve always had a thing for lanky guys, and he was the definition of perfect in that respect.

I felt like a desperate schoolgirl, praying his eyes would find mine. But of course they didn’t, he was far too focused of an athlete to be looking for potential dates in the crowd right now. Another pair of eyes found me however, and they belonged to Piper.

She nudged my elbow with hers, “Bet you’re not so mad about this fundraiser tonight now?”

I did my best to glare, “Actually, I’m still pretty mad. Just hard not to take notice of him when the whole place sounds like it’s going to explode when he walks out.”

I was trying really hard to sound nonchalant about the whole thing, but Piper always had a knack for sensing my true feelings. She gave me a knowing glance, but left it alone.

The swimmers were going through the stretches now, and no matter how hard I tried not to, my eyes kept drifting back to Percy. He was turned facing the other way, stretching his hamstrings now, and I just about fainted at just how perfect this man’s ass was.

Seriously what the hell is wrong with me? I have barely even glanced at a man since I broke up with Brandon and here I am ogling over some dude who I’ve never even talked to. And honestly, he was probably a jerk.

That much attention leads to a large amount of conceitedness. It’s really easy for it to get to your head. And most people don’t fight it off like I do. Most likely, he would barely even talk to me tonight, and I would never see him again. Or at least that’s what I told myself, since the other possibility of getting to know him led to far too many stomach butterflies for my comfort.

The announcer (thankfully) saved me from my thoughts as he called for the swimmers to take their spots. I realized that I didn’t even know what race this was, and glanced at the scoreboard and saw 100m butterfly just in time for me to miss them jumping into the water.

The stadium immediately erupted in cheers, and even Piper started clapping along. I decided to join in the fun and gave out a half hearted “let’s go.” Even though it was very general, I could see Piper raise her eyebrow at me, as she knew exactly who I was really cheering for.

By this time, they were about halfway down the final stretch, and I find myself inching out of my seat along with the rest of the crowd. Percy was ahead of the next person by at least half a body length, and easily breezed into the wall in first place.

He whipped off his goggles and cap, took a look at the scoreboard and then raised a triumphant fist. Just seeing this even made me smile. What can I say? It makes me happy when people get to see their hard work pay off.

“Impressive, no?” Piper shouted as she leaned closer to me.

“Incredibly so! How can anyone move through water that fast?”

The rest of the meet passed remarkably fast. Percy swam in 6 more events and placed first in all of them. To say I was impressed was an understatement. I was incredibly surprised when I realized that I had actually really enjoyed myself. And here I thought I didn’t like swimming.

Piper and I opted to stay in our seats while some of the crowd filed out of the stadium. We chatted about the plans for the fundraiser that night.

“Okay missy, when we get home, your hair and makeup team will be there with your dress.You have a bit of time to relax, but no dilly-dallying. The fundraiser starts at 7, so I would like you there at 6:45 so you can greet guests as they arrive.”

“Yeah yeah. You and I both know I won’t be late Pipes. But I appreciate the concern.”

The drive home went by surprisingly fast, and before I knew it, I was being bombarded by my makeup and hair team. I put in some music and tried to tune out all of the chatter as they got me ready.

I put on my dress and stepped in front of the mirror.

Wowza. I looked hot. Of all nights to meet the infamous Percy Jackson, I was glad this one was the night. My light blue dress cascaded down to the floor in a regal manner. My hair was half up, half down, with loose curls bouncing down my back. My makeup was done in exactly the way I love- enough to smooth the look over, but so little that it is barely noticeable.

Okay enough about me, let’s go meet some guests and more importantly, Percy.

* * *

It was 7:30 and all of the guests have arrived but one person was notably missing.

Percy. Fucking. Jackson.

Piper assured me that his manager had told him to arrive at the same time as me, so he could help with the greeting activities. I didn’t mind greeting people by myself- that’s what I thought I was going to be doing tonight anyways, but it has always bothered me when people arrive late for events , particularly important ones.

I had to put on my performance face now though, as I had to give the introduction to the evening. As I stepped onto the stage, a hush fell over the group.

“Hello everyone, I’d like to thank you all for being here tonight. As someone who has personally struggled with both ADHD and dyslexia my whole life, please know that your contributions are truly helping make a difference in a child’s life by helping them achieve their educational dreams.”

A small round of applause was shared and I gave a tight smile. Just as I opened my mouth to continue, a loud bang of the doors from the back of the room drew everyone’s attention there.

Sure enough, in ran a very flustered looking Percy Jackson- hair flying every which way and jacket still undone. I just stood and gaped along with the rest of the attendees.

To his credit, he had the decency to look embarrassed about his entrance. He hastily buttoned his coat and started hustling towards the stage. Towards me.

On stage, I just stared with my mouth open while he climbed the steps and grabbed a mic from a nearby attendant. He looked at me, I think for permission to speak, and when I glared at him he apparently took that to mean ‘go right ahead.’

“Hey everyone,” he gave an awkward wave, “sorry I’m late- you know, Olympic training and whatnot”

It bothered me that everyone in the crowd gave either a sympathetic or appreciative nod. I supposed I should have been happy that people weren’t angry about his entrance, but I disliked that everyone was practically just letting him off the hook!

“Like Annabeth here, I too suffer from both ADHD and dyslexia. That’s why we’ve paired up tonight with all of you wonderful folks. This is a cause we’re both passionate about, and I can tell that all of you are too.

Throughout the evening, you’ll see stories from different children who have had their lives impacted for the better by this organization. If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to ask either Annabeth or I.”

I’m not going to lie, I was thoroughly surprised that he managed to hit every single point I was going to cover in my speech. Considering his arrival, I was expecting that speech of his to be a train wreck. He turned to look at me with a small smile, and despite my frustration, my heart melted at how intense his eyes were up close.

Feeling myself starting to get lost in his eyes, I gave him a small nod and turned my attention back to the attendees.

“Well, with that, let’s get this party started. Everyone please enjoy the wonderful stylings of Miss Annabeth Chase!” He announced as he bowed off stage.

I tried to shake my excitement over him knowing my name off as I retreated back to the microphone in front of my band. After all, I was a world famous musician, it’s not like him knowing my name was anything special. Still, I wish it was.

The first chords of my latest single started playing and I immersed myself in my music, all thoughts of Percy gone from my mind. As I surveyed the audience, they all seemed very interested in my music, which just fueled my performance even more. Even though it was just a small venue, I felt that this had been one of my best performances of the song.

I took a bow and exited the stage, only to find Percy standing there.

“Hey Annabeth, great job out there. Sorry about being late…” he trailed off but I had already walked past him with a small wave.

That boy may be hot as hell, but I really did not have the patience for his nonsense right now. Thankfully, Piper came to my rescue, as she always does. I heard her approach Percy with his manager Grover beside her and begin talking to him about his duties for the night.

I was already into the crowd by the time he had been updated, mingling and truly enjoying the meaningful conversations I was having. Minutes, even hours passed without me noticing. Things were starting to slow down a bit, which meant that the crowd was becoming progressively younger. This also meant that I could finally enjoy myself and have some drinks.

When I was scanning the room, my eyes happened to land on Percy, gesticulating wildly to a group of women who were standing all too closely to him. They all laughed falsely, and a few of them even reached out and put their hands on his arm, chest, back.

Suddenly, the room just felt far too hot and I was sick of sharing it with Percy. I snatched two champagne flutes from a nearby waiter and weaved my way through the remaining crowd. Following one of the narrow hallways down, I found my favorite hideout at this venue- a balcony overlooking the majestic gardens outside.

It was just far enough from the main gathering space that no one ever ventured here. It was perfect for moments like this when I just needed to get away for a bit. Downing my first glass of champagne embarrassingly fast, I stared out at the peaceful gardens and allowed myself to get lost in my thoughts.

Naturally, the first thing my brain decided to focus on was Percy. I had barely talked to him all evening, in fact it felt almost like I had been actively avoiding him. It was so incredibly different from my plans earlier that same day.

In fact, it was hard to believe how enamored I had been with the swimmer even 12 hours earlier. So far, the few interactions I’ve had with him had been just off-putting enough that I wasn’t feeling a strong desire to put in the effort to get to know him anymore.

Maybe that was a bit unfair, but in my defense, after showing up late, he had been absolutely surrounded by women at any given point in the night. Unfortunately, he just doesn’t seem to be the type of guy that I’d like to hang out with.

With a sad pang, I started in on my second champagne flute. For the second time that night, I was interrupted by a commotion at the door.

What the hell? No one ever comes back here. Suddenly a man stumbled through the doors, panting.

And just like deja vu, Percy Jackson, looking disheveled and almost unbearably handsome, grinned at me and made my breath catch in my throat.

Oh great.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. It took me almost 3 months to update. I got so busy with school, I'm so sorry! I haven't give up on this story, I promise I will finish it! Sorry it's a bit shorter than the first chapter, just wanted to publish *something*

Immediately, I downed the rest of champagne flute #2 and stood to leave. I came here for peace and quiet, and it was obvious that I was not going to get that with Percy here now. 

“Wait! Don’t leave! I was actually looking for you,” Percy stated emphatically. 

I questioningly raised one of my eyebrows, but remained rooted in my spot. Admittedly, I was a little curious as to why he was looking for me. We had barely seen each other all night, let alone exchanged more than a few words in our lifetime. 

Hesitantly, he took a step towards me, staring at me intently under thick eyelashes. I tried to ignore the fluttering of my heart and give him my best glare. 

“Listen, about before, I’m really sorry I was late. My coach wanted to stay and discuss training with me, and despite my best protests he wouldn’t let me go. It’s not an excuse, and I know that it wasn’t fair to you, especially since I jumped on this fundraiser so last minute- which, by the way, was not my idea and my manager only told me about it this morning.” 

I would have laughed at the similarities between our situations if I wasn’t so shocked at his sincerity. This is terrible of me, but I had always assumed he was kind of a shallow guy. It sure seemed like Percy was just set out to break a lot of my conceptions of him. 

I swallowed and spoke in a small voice, “I didn’t know about the joint fundraiser until this morning either.” 

The smile that lit up Percy’s face blinded me. I’m assuming he thought I’d yell at him (I’ve been told I have a very intimidating person). 

“Do you think we could start over?” He said, extending a hand. 

“Sure,” I replied, stretching mine out to meet his, “I’m Annabeth Chase and I like singing.” 

I’m genuinely proud of myself for getting a coherent sentence out because as soon as our hands touched it was like electricity surged through my body. I had been close with Luke, sure, but I had never felt something so exhilarating. And we  _ just touched hands _ . 

Gee, I think I’ve been watching too many romantic dramas lately. 

“You’re damn good at it too,” Percy’s voice snapped me back to reality, “And I’m Percy Jackson and I like swimming.” 

“You’re damn good at it too,” I parroted back with a small smile. 

That blinding smile adorned his face once more, and I realized then that I really liked his smile. His eyes crinkled up and he even got a dimple on his right side. I may be willing to let down my harshness towards him if only to see him smile a few more times. Maybe. 

“You know, you’re not how I expected you to be, Annabeth,” He said, plopping down onto the floor of the balcony. 

Hesitantly, I sat back down, “What do you mean by that?”

“Well,” he began, scratching the back of his neck nervously, “you give off this really powerful aura. Regal, maybe? You just seem almost untouchable in your performances and interviews and whatnot. But I saw you mingling with guests earlier, and you were so kind and so at ease. I get the feeling your interior personality is pretty different than your exterior one.” 

I gazed at him dumbfounded. On the one hand, everything he said was exactly spot on. It unnerved me that having only met me today, he already notices how I manage my public persona. On the other hand,  _ what the hell?  _  Why is Percy Jackson of all people noticing my behaviors and trying to figure me out?

I guess he took my silence to mean that I was offended, because after a few seconds his eyes widened in panic. 

“I don’t mean that in a bad way at all- I just- I just want to get know you a bit better. You seem like a really interesting person.” 

“Oh, I’m not mad,” I quickly reassured him, “Just a little unnerved? We haven’t even known each other for a day and you’re already picking up on the differences between my private and public personas. You’re very...perceptive.” 

To my surprise, he buried his face in his hands, “Ugh. Now I sound like such a stalker don’t I?” 

This was what finally elicited a laugh from me, “No, you’re not a stalker Percy. You just notice things that a lot of other people don’t notice. That’s not a bad thing.” 

He mumbled something in response, but I couldn’t quite make it all out. It sounded suspiciously like ‘It’s hard not to notice you.’ but I refused to believe that. My heart was probably just infiltrating my brain trying to make me think that’s what he said. 

And before I could stop myself, my brain came careening back into control. 

_ There’s no way a guy like Percy would be interested in you. Sure, you’re a celebrity, but he even just admitted that you’re hard to figure out! He had so many women hanging around him inside, he probably just ran into you while escaping from them, and then felt bad about earlier so he struck up a conversation.  _

All of these thoughts were racing through my mind, and I suddenly just needed to be away from Percy. 

I stood up abruptly, and he whipped his head towards me.

“Well, we should probably get back now. I’m sure there are more than a few guests of the female persuasion that are sorely missing your company right now. I shouldn’t keep them from the pleasure of your company,” I said without bite. 

He gave a small smile, and something momentarily flashed in his eyes. It looked like disappointment, but maybe he was just disappointed about having to return to his host duties. At least that’s what I was trying to convince myself.

He didn’t say anything- just followed silently behind me back to the ballroom. As soon as we re-entered, a waiter came by with a tray of champagne, and I snagged two more flutes. 

Spinning around to Percy, I offered him one, hoping this would serve as a sort of peace offering for us. He seemed like a nice guy, and I could see myself being friends with him. 

He graciously accepted and clinked our glasses together before toasting, “To a successful fundraiser!”

I nodded and took a sip from my glass. Deciding that I should probably try to socialize with the few remaining guests, I gave a small nod to Percy and began to walk off. 

I had only made it about 3 steps before I felt a hand gently encircle my wrist. Turning around, I saw Percy staring intently at the ground, face flushed. 

Confused, I kindly asked, “Yes, Percy?” 

“Annabeth, would you like to dance with me before you leave?” his puppy dog eyes trained on my face now. 

This man never stops surprising me, does he?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So as I was writing this chapter, I realized that I want this story to be a lot longer than originally planned! Stay tuned for that in the coming months! 
> 
> Enjoy!

One dance turned into two, which turned into 3, until we had spent the rest of the night in each other’s company. These dances were, of course, accompanied by ever more champagne. The crowd had thinned even more, so now it was only people around my age who were clearly just enjoying themselves at this point.

I’m pretty certain none of them wanted to talk about the fundraiser, so I used that justify my slacking off on hostess duties. Percy had set off to try and find us another round of champagne, so I was left alone on the dance floor. Normally, I would have stepped off until he returned, but the champagne was making me feel warm and fuzzy, and probably far too confident.

The song switched then, and my mouth dropped open in horror at the song coming through the speakers. I swiveled towards the DJ, figuring he must not know I’m still here. It’s seriously weird to play the song of an artist who’s in the room.

“Well would you listen to who it is,” Percy’s voice sing-songed from behind me.

I stayed silent and sent him the best glare I could muster in my slightly drunken state. Snatching one of the champagne flutes out of his hand, I quickly downed about a quarter of it. Percy was too busy to notice because he was dancing and singing along quite loudly.

“WE FOUND LOVE IN A HOPELESS PLACE, WE FOUND LOVE IN A HOPELESSSSSS PLACE,” he belted.

I actually started to giggle at his ridiculous antics, which caused him to turn and look at me.

“So how did I do? You know I could always be a backup if you ever get sick before a concert or something,”

I snorted, “Yeah you might want to stick to swimming, Seaweed Brain.”

“Oh c’mon Annabeth, you gotta admit your song is catchy! Just dance and enjoy it!”

Blame it on the alcohol that I listened to him for some reason. I started singing along, thoroughly pleased that I was actually hitting the notes. Percy’s voice was notably absent from my singing, so I looked to him to see why he wasn’t belting along like earlier. His mouth was agape, and he was staring at me with sparkling eyes.

My heart definitely did not skip a beat.

“You going to sing or just continue staring at me?” I asked, sounding far more confident than I felt.

“Sorry,” he rushed out, blushing fiercely, “You...your voice just never fails to amaze me.”

I smiled at the ground, “thanks.”

Once the song was over, the DJ announced that the venue was asking all guests to leave within 10 minutes so they could begin the cleanup process. Percy and I made our way to the doors so we could bid farewell to the guests who had managed to stay the whole night.

A few asked for pictures on their way out, which we obliged to. They stepped to either side of me and Percy, and I was surprised when I felt Percy’s arm snake around my waist. Turning to the camera I was praying that I didn’t look too drunk, or too flustered by Percy’s close contact.

When all of the guests had left, Percy and I filed towards the valet station, to call our drivers to pick us up. They assured us they would be here in 10 minutes or so, so we made our way over to a bench perched just off the sidewalk.

“You know, I actually had a really fun time tonight, Annabeth. We should host fundraisers together more often,” Percy began

“Only if you promise to show up on time,” I replied with some sass.

Percy had the decency to blush at that, “Yeah, sorry again about that. I promise I’ll be on time to any future ones. Cross my heart and hope to die.”

I threw my head back to laugh, and as I did so, realized that champagne was affecting me a little more than I initially thought. I grabbed my head to try to make the world stop spinning, which caused Percy to chuckle beside me.

“How are you not as drunk as I am right now?”

“Well, I didn’t have as much as you,” he started, “and I’m also 6’4’’, so it takes a lot more alcohol to get me drunk.”

“Ugh why do you have to be so perfect,” I muttered, thinking I did it quiet enough that he wouldn’t hear. Of course, being that I was drunk, luck was not on my side.

“You think I’m perfect?” Percy asked jokingly, raising his eyebrows.

My filter was totally gone by now so I just started talking, “Well I mean, yeah! You’re an Olympic swimmer and a freaking amazing one at that. You care about causes like this,” I gestured wildly back towards the ballroom.

“You’re actually a super nice and down to earth guy. You’re hilarious. I swear I haven’t laughed as hard as I did tonight in ages. Your hair is like, perfect. Your eyes, ugh. I’ve never met someone with eyes like yours and they remind of… they remind me of the ocean! And have you seen your body?” I finished.

Percy’s face contained too many emotions that I couldn’t tell what he was actually feeling. His mouth hung open in shock, his face was dusted with blush in embarrassment, eyebrows knit in confusion. I too was confused about how he was acting, but then it hit me just how much I had said out loud.

My hand clamped over my mouth as I gasped, “Shit! Did I really just say all of that?”

Percy’s eyes softened and he reached out to touch my arm as he began softly, “Annabeth, I-”

Thankfully I was spared from any further embarrassment as my driver came rushing up to me to take me home.

“Thank you sir, for watching over her while she waited. Goodnight,” my driver said politely.

I got settled into the backseat and fully intended on ignoring Percy as we drove away, hoping my embarrassment would fade away. My eyes betrayed me though and glanced to where he was now standing, staring at me intently. I raised my hand and gave him a small wave, which he returned with a small smile gracing his lips.

I sighed and laid my head back against the seat and fell asleep far too quickly.

A wave of nausea woke me up suddenly, but I was surprised to see that I was back in my house, not in the car. I rolled out of bed so I could go get some water and saw that it was already 9 a.m.

Deciding to get up for the day, I strolled back into my room to grab a sweatshirt. As I was walking out, I noticed a piece of paper on my desk. That was weird, I never left anything out like that. My heart started racing as my thoughts briefly flashed to Percy, but I quickly recognized the handwriting as my own.

Oh god, I think I wrote a song last night.

I cringed as I picked up the paper, not wanting to read the surely terrible lyrics my drunk mind had come up with.

My mouth hung open in shock as I read through the first lyrics I had written, which were actually quite beautiful.

_There I was again tonight,_

_forcing laughter faking smiles,_

_same old tired lonely place._

_Walls of insincerity_

_Shifting eyes and vacancy_

_Vanished when I saw your face_

_All I can say is it was enchanting to meet you._

 

Holy shit this actually sounded like the start of a really good song. Without a second thought, I sat at the desk and picked up the pen.

An hour later, I called Piper and told her I had written the first single for my new album. She screamed through the phone.

We weren’t able to gather the band to record for another week and boy, was it a long week. Pretty much any free time I had, I found my mind wandering to Percy. I wondered what he was doing, I wondered if he felt the same way, I wondered if I’d ever see him again.

Luckily, I was able to channel all of these feelings into the song. It was the quickest we’d ever recorded a song, and everyone came up and told me personally how wonderful of a job I had done on it. I couldn’t help but wonder what Percy would think when he heard it. Would he know it was about him?

We hadn’t talked since that night because I had been too drunk that night to think of asking for his phone number, which left me no way to contact him. In my desperation, I did something which I never do - social media creep.

Normally I try to stay away from news because I learned the hard way that reading what people right about you is a surefire way to lose your mind. Today I was just going to do a quick search and see what Percy was up to.

As soon as I typed in his name, I regretted doing so. The page was filled with articles from just yesterday with the words “date” and “Rachel Elizabeth Dare” in every one of them. My heart had already sank through my stomach, but I still clicked on the article for some reason.

Rachel was the daughter of one of the wealthiest Wall Street bankers, and had somehow made her way into the celebrity circle. The article said that the two had connected at a charity event about a week ago, and had gone out to dinner and a stroll along the beach last night.

Wait, a charity event a week ago? That would mean that Percy met Rachel at our fundraiser. Suddenly, it felt like I couldn’t breathe. I felt so stupid.

I had literally just recorded a song about how magical it was to meet him there and it turns out I wasn’t even the person he was most interested in dating from the event. Fuck.

I didn’t even know if I could release the song anymore. I felt like I’d been played for a fool, which happens to be my least favorite feeling in the whole world. One line in particular kept coming back to haunt me:

_Please don’t be in love with someone else, please don’t have somebody waiting on you._

* * *

After two weeks of late night talks with Piper, we decided that I should go ahead and release the song. With enough time, I wouldn’t even remember that the song was written about Percy and we both felt that it had good potential to bring attention to my album.

I was doing a special show in Los Angeles in a week to promote the new album, and I decided that I wanted to debut my song at it. Since the show was so soon, I had been rehearsing like crazy these last few weeks.

That was exactly what I needed to keep my mind off of Percy. I still thought about him far too much, and it always brought a pang of sadness along with it. It was stupid really, we weren’t even friends, so I don’t know why I should be upset that he was dating someone else.

I mean, I had thought that we really connected that night, but clearly he didn’t feel the same. Really though, we barely knew each other at all. I was stupid to think that a few hours of chatting a fundraiser would make us acquaintances of any kind.

Much to my dismay though, him and Rachel were still being seen out and about a few times a week. I feebly tried to tell myself that they could be friends, but I just couldn’t buy it.

I managed to distract myself during rehearsals that day, but when Piper approached me with a cautious look on her face, my stomach sank.

“So Annabeth, there have been a few people who have requested VIP access to your concert next week,” Piper began uncertainly.

“Okay….” I stated, drawing out the word to illustrate my confusion.

“There’s some usuals, Leo Valdez, Thalia Grace,” Piper blushed at the mention of that name because she happened to have a crush on Thalia’s brother, Jason.

“No Jason this time around?” I teased.

Piper flushed even more, “N-no. He’s out of town next week. Unfortunately.”

I nodded with a slight smile on my face. I really had hoped he would be able to come, because I  just want to see Jason and Piper get together.

“And one more,” she was staring intently at me, as if ready to gauge how I would react, “Percy Jackson.”

* * *

 I was sitting in my makeup chair, fidgeting with my hands nervously. Though I am an incredibly successful musician, I still get the nerves before every single performance I do. There’s just nothing that gets you used to singing in front of 20,000 people.

It probably didn’t help that I had agreed to let Percy have a VIP pass to the concert. I still have no idea why he’s coming tonight- he still hasn’t contacted me and gave no reason to Piper as to why he requested the pass.

Piper, sensing my hesitation of having him backstage before the concert, agreed that she would keep him out of my way before the show. We both knew that after the show, she probably wouldn’t be able to do the same, so I hoped luck would be on my side.

By the time my hair and makeup were finished, it was only 45 minutes until my performance would begin. I started to make my way over to technical to get my mic and earpiece set up when I heard his voice.

“So how long does it take Annabeth to get ready for something like this?” I heard, with a lilt of hope in his voice.

Of course, this was the moment the two of them chose to come around the corner, staring down the hallway which I was frozen in. Piper’s eyes widened in surprise, and Percy’s mouth dropped open. I made brief eye contact with him, but quickly looked at Piper, who understood what I was trying to communicate mentally.

Just as Percy started to say something, Piper grabbed his arm and interrupted, “Come on, let me introduce you to some of the band members,”

She dragged him down the hallway, shooting me an apologetic look as she did. Just as they turned the corner, Percy’s eyes found mine again, burning with words left unsaid.

I shook the encounter from my mind and continued on my way. I would not let some guy (even if he happened to be the world’s best swimmer) distract me from my show tonight.

14 songs later, and I was absolutely crushing this concerts. All thoughts of Percy had been left behind… until now.

“Alright everyone, I have a surprise for you tonight,” I barely finished the sentence as it was drowned out by the roar of the crowd.

“A few weeks ago I wrote a song,” I chanced a glance to the side of the stage and locked eyes with Percy, who was watching me intently,

“I wrote a song in 24 hours,” the crowd screamed again. Percy’s eyebrows raised, showing his surprise like the rest of the crowd.

I broke eye contact- there was no way I was going to get through this song looking into those stupid, beautiful green eyes.

“This is _Enchanted._ I hope you like it!”

The beginning chords of the songs started and I closed my eyes, trying to lose myself in the feelings I felt at the banquet.

Later in the song, I found myself wondering what Percy was thinking of all of this. I know I shouldn’t have, but part of me just wanted to see the expression on his face. I strode towards the back of the stage so I could walk off to the side, towards the side of the stage he was standing on.

Just as I turned, I started to sing the lines I most wanted him to hear in this song anyways.

Eyes locked on him, I sang with all of my heart, “Please don’t be in love with someone else, please don’t have somebody waiting on you.”

Rather than seeing guilt or pity like I expected, it looked like longing in his eyes. Nope, I’m not going to think about that. He’s dating Rachel, no way.

I tore my eyes away from him and finished the song to a deafening audience. I’m guessing that means they liked it. That bodes well for my new album.

I finished off the night with my biggest hit from my last album. Taking my bow on the stage, surrounded by the members of my band, I realized just how much I couldn’t wait to go on tour again. I really had missed my fans and the energy that shows gave me.

Purposefully, I exited the stage on the opposite which Percy had been standing. It’s not that I was mad at him, I just didn’t really want to deal with all of my confusing feelings right now. I was still riding my after concert high, and I had a feeling a conversation with him would bring that down.

Piper greeted me right off stage and gave me a huge bear hug.

“You. Did. Amazing.”

“Thanks Pipes. And thanks for setting this all up.”

Piper gave me a glowing smile and took me to my dressing room so I could get ready to leave.

After far too long, my face finally felt devoid of makeup, and my hair was up in a messy bun. Quickly, I changed into a blouse and jeans. Hopefully I’d be able to sign some autographs for fans for a while before heading to the planned after party for the crew.  

Finally, I stepped out of my room, hoping to find Piper quickly. Someone else was standing outside of my door, however. I fought off rolling my eyes, because of course Percy would wait around excessively long.

Deciding that he would initiate the conversation, I started to walk down the hall past him.

Unsurprisingly, for the second time in our short acquaintance, he grabbed my wrist lightly.

“Hey Annabeth, you did a really amazing job out there tonight. You know this is the first time I’ve been to one of your concerts?” he finished, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

“Thanks,” I replied, trying to keep the coldness out of my voice, “did you really wait around for nearly an hour just to tell me that?”

“Uh, no. I also just wanted to explain myself, I know I haven’t talked to you since the fundraiser-”

“Listen Percy, I really have to get going so I can meet some of my fans,” I interrupted before he could get too far into it. Part of me was burning to hear what he had to say, and the other part was just so tired from the day and wanted to keep it moving.

“Oh yeah, I understand,” his face clearly fell, “Do you think I could have your number, I really want to talk to you.”

My heart suddenly softened.

“What’s your number,” I asked, pulling out my phone.

After he responded, I typed for a bit while he kept glancing up at me nervously.

“There. That’s the address to the after-party for my crew. If you come there, in say, an hour and a half, we can talk.”

A smile split his face as he read the text, “Yeah that sounds great, Annabeth. I’ll see you then. Thanks.”

* * *

 I was on my third drink of the night when Percy walked through the doors, looking thoroughly nervous. Waving slightly, I managed to catch his eyes and he made his way over to my table near the back.

As he was nearing the table, I asked my friends if they could give us a few minutes. Seeing as I have never even mentioned his name before, they all gave me bewildered looks. Thankfully, they agreed anyways.

He sat down across from me and kept shooting me nervous glances.

“You want a drink? Seems like you’re a bit...wound up,” I tried to joke.

Letting out a breathy laugh, he responded quietly, “I don’t think my coach would like that much.”

Honestly, it was stupid how easily I forgot the he was such a high caliber athlete. Of course he wouldn’t want to drink, he was probably training near 24/7.

“So what inspired an Olympic athlete to take away multiple hours of his precious free time to come stag to my concert?”

“Well, shamelessly, I wanted to see you again,” he looked up at me biting his lip and my heart _definitely_ did not begin to race. Not trusting my own voice, I waited for him to speak again.

“And this was really the only I could figure out to get a hold of you. Why are celebrities so hard to contact?”

I laughed and managed to find my voice again, “Well you have my phone number now so I’d say that mission was a success.”

“Yeah,” his face quickly turned more somber again, “and I wanted to explain about the benefit. I had a really great time, especially with you. Seriously, more fun than with a lot of my long-time friends. I wanted so badly to meet up after, but again, had no way to contact you. And about Rachel, she asked me on a date and--”

I held up my hand, signalling him to stop, “I don’t particularly want to hear about you and Rachel’s dating history. So, if I’m following, you want to start over as friends?”

His eyes lit up, “That’s exactly what I want, Wise Girl.”

I chuckled at the fact that he had finally come up with a nickname for me. I was trying to think of any reason why I should tell Percy we couldn’t be friends but I could find none. It was clear we got along exceptionally well, and if we couldn’t date, then at least we could still enjoy each other’s company as friends. Hopefully I could keep my feelings under control.

“You got yourself a deal, Seaweed Brain,” I stuck my hand out for him to shake.

The sparks that I felt as our hands touched were totally normal for shaking a friend’s hand right? Ugh, I’m screwed.

“Oh and about that song you just wrote?” Percy began

Shit. I was hoping he wouldn’t ask about it. When I wrote it, I wanted nothing more than to show it to him, but now I felt slightly mortified he had heard it.

“What about it?” I replied monotonously, trying to play it cool.

“I - I just wanted to know if you felt, you know, if you felt that way?” he stammered, face flushed.

“What way? I wrote that song based on a friend’s experiences a few weeks back,” I lied smoothly.

“Oh, okay. Nevermind,” he looked slightly crestfallen.

My heart was thumping inside of my chest as I stared him down, hoping he’d believe the lie. Though he too analyzed me for a few moments, his face broke out into a grin and he made some lame pun about the bar we were in. My heart fluttered in my chest at the sound of his laughter.

I downed the rest of my drink harshly, hoping maybe it  would drown my feelings for Percy Jackson on the way.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ran into some serious writer's block with this story, but I've been feeling in the zone lately so I will *hopefully* be updating soon.

Despite the fact that I gave Percy my number the last time I saw him, I still hadn’t heard from him in nearly a week. I guess it’s not exactly like we decided to be the best of friends, but I had hoped that he would talk to me so we could get to know one another better.

Then again, he was an Olympic athlete, he probably didn’t have a ton of spare time to talk. And what time he did have was surely devoted to Rachel Dare. As much as I tried to pretend that I didn’t care that Percy was dating her, my stomach would twist any time I even heard mention of her name.

And unfortunately, with the Olympics looming just a few months away, there was a lot of gossip surrounding the athletes- particularly those who had just entered into a new relationship. It feels like I can’t go more than a few hours without hearing some news story about Percy and Rachel.

Whatever. I’ll just work on some songs for my new album. Surely that’ll distract me?

I pulled out my notebook and went to grab my guitar. Just as I picked up the case, I heard my phone buzz on the table. I ran over to it embarrassingly fast, however my excitement was short lived when I saw that it was not, in fact, a text from Percy, but from Piper.

**[11:13 a.m.] How goes the songwriting, my beautiful artist? ;)**

Groaning, I open the text to respond. I wish I actually had something to report to Piper, but all I could think of all morning was a stupid pair of green eyes.

 **[** **11:15 a.m.]** **_Ugh_ **

**[** **11:16 a.m.]** **_I’m too distracted right now to come up with anything worthwhile_ **

I threw my phone at the couch, determined to write at least something. As much as I hated how much I had been thinking about Percy, a small part of my brain was nagging at me to just indulge it. _Only_ for the song, of course.

Sometimes the best songs were written about experiences a singer has never had. Who’s to say I couldn’t write a song about a relationship that doesn’t and probably never will exist? Gods, when did my life come to this?

Tentatively, I brought my pen to the paper, already blushing furiously. I started to write down a line about green eyes, but found myself too mortified to continue after just a few minutes. To my surprise, a knock came on my door right about that time.

Not caring that I was still in my pajamas, I swung the door open carelessly. Piper brushed past me without even a second glance.

“Good morning to you too,” I rolled my eyes, chuckling as she made herself at home.

“So you’ve got it bad, eh?” she asked, quirking her eyebrows.

Startled, I turned to face her, “what do you mean?”

She leveled her gaze at me, “You mean to tell me that a certain black-haired swimmer has absolutely _nothing_ to do with your writer’s block right now?”

Awkwardly, I shuffled my feet and stared intently at the floor.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” she started, “Do you still have that wig you used as a disguise a few weeks back.”

I nodded, “It’s in my closet. Why? What are you up to?”

Flashing her signature smirk, she stood up, “Put it on. I’ll bet you a six pack that I can cure your writer’s block by the end of the day.”

“And how are you going to do that?” I asked, not wanting to commit to whatever crazy scheme she’d come up with just yet.

“You’ll just have to wait and see, missy.”

Against my better judgement, I was in Piper’s car 30 minutes, being driven to god knows where.

* * *

 “Piper I cannot believe you brought me here! Can I please just leave?” I pleaded with her.

“Absolutely not! In fact, we’re not leaving here until you write a song,” she softened a bit, “I know you can do it, Annabeth.”

“How am I supposed to write with all of this noise? The cheering and the announcer and whatnot?!?” I snapped back.

Yes, Piper had brought me to another swim meet. And yes, Percy was competing in it. In other words, it was the last place I wanted to be right now. My desperation for contact from him had faded throughout the week into frustration.

Piper was about to speak when a deafening roar met our ears and sure enough, there was the Seaweed Brain himself, stepping out of the locker rooms.

Though my manager cheered enthusiastically, I huffed, crossing my arms and refusing to look at the stupidly gorgeous man. I was thankful, at least, that Piper made me put the wig on. I would have been mortified if Percy had spotted me at one of his events. As far as I knew, he still wasn’t even aware that I had attended his Olympic qualifiers.

When he took his warm-up jacket off, Piper turned to me with a gleam in her eyes, “You’re telling me _that_ doesn’t provide some sort of inspiration?”

“This is cruel and unusual punishment,” I mumbled back.

Piper barked out a laugh, then reached into her bag and pulled out my song book. That little devil must have grabbed it while I was getting changed.

I did my best to scowl at her, but at that moment, Percy’s movements caught the corner of my eye. He was stretching, simply warming up, but his movements were so… fluid. Even when he wasn’t in the water he carried a sort of effortlessness that made him seem like he was floating.

He was bobbing his head along to whatever pump up song was playing through his headphones. Suddenly,he grabbed his water bottle and sung into it like a microphone. I couldn’t make it what song it was from here, but I involuntarily let out a little giggle. It never failed to amaze me just how much he always _himself_ with no regard whatsoever to what other people thought of him.

Ignoring Piper’s knowing look, I snatched the notebook from her- thoughts of songs already swirling in my head. I bent over, hoping nobody would find it too weird that someone was writing during the middle of a swim meet, and let my mind take control of the pen.

I was about halfway through the first verse when I heard the announcer start the countdown to the race. Snapping my head up, I saw Percy dive smoothly into the water. Just as with the first time I saw him swim, I was absolutely enthralled.  Again, he was kicking everyone’s ass, and looked graceful as ever doing it.

When he touched the wall, officially winning the race, I stood up and cheered alongside Piper. She gave me a huge grin. Despite everything, I couldn’t be mad at her at the moment. I had finally resigned myself to admitting that I was happy to be here and see Percy swim.

There was barely any time for him to celebrate his win, however, because he was in the next race too - this time a relay. In the few minutes between the races, I quickly scribbled down lyrics which had come to me during Percy’s race. As much as I hated to admit it, they were actually pretty good.

Piper leaned over my shoulder and scanned what I had written so far. She shook her head, and I immediately became self-conscious that what I had written wasn’t good enough to be song material. However, all those thoughts were dismissed when I heard her speak.

“That boy is your goddamn muse, Anna,” she said, barely containing a smile.

I was too embarrassed to give a response,so just blushed and read over the song again. It really was quite good, especially considering how quickly I had written it. Easily album material. ( **A/N: I’m too lazy to actually find a song that would fit here, so please use your imagination!)**

Piper nudged me, “I’m not saying, I’m just saying- you owe me a six pack.”  

I couldn’t even find it within myself to feel mad that I lost the bet.

* * *

 A couple of hours later and it was finally the last race. Percy had, yet again, won every single race he participated in. I honestly didn’t even understand how that was possible, but I cheered for him every time.

He finished his last race, during which he set a personal and national record. The crowd was deafening. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him, though I wish I had.

After fist-pumping in the water, he quickly dried himself off and made his way over to the stands. On the way, I swore he made eye contact with me, but even if he had, I reminded myself that I simply looked like a stranger to him.

I followed his every move as he made his way over to seats that were just along the start/finish line, and felt my heart sink as flame red hair came into view.

 _Of course Rachel Elizabeth Dare would be here._ I chided myself for naively thinking otherwise.

My back stiffened as I watched the smile on Percy’s face grow uncontrollably when he spotted the redhead.She leaned over the railings of the stands and gave him a kiss as congratulations. In another life, perhaps that would be me congratulating him.

My stomach twisted, and it suddenly felt like there was not enough air in the auditorium. Without a word, I stood and slammed my notebook down where I previously sat and rushed out of the stands.

Piper did not follow or question me.

* * *

 Piper had been texting me nonstop since yesterday’s meet, but I continually ignored her. I understand that she had no way of knowing that Percy and Rachel would be all...couply at the swim meet. Still, my insides were twisting in way that I did not want to acknowledge- and talking to Piper would require acknowledging those feelings.

In other news, I had written a kick-ass song about my feelings. So now three of my songs on the new album are about Percy. Great….

My phone buzzed again. I ignored it, groaning, expecting some text from Piper asking if I was ‘okay’ or whatnot. I picked up my guitar and strum along to the song that I had written that morning, perfecting the melody.

Once I was satisfied, I decided that I should at least read the message. I unlocked my phone and almost dropped it as I saw the contact name “Seaweed Brain”.

**[7:42 p.m.] Hey Wise Girl! Are you busy right now?**

Unconsciously, my heart sped up a little bit. My brain kicked in shortly after and wondered why he would ask this after not talking to me for an entire week.

 **[8:31 p.m.]** **_Not really. Just doing some songwriting. Why…?_ **

To be honest, I was genuinely curious why he wanted to know. That text seems like the type of message you send someone when you want to meet up. Does he want to meet up with me? Why? He already has a girlfriend after all.

I didn’t have to wait long to find out, as his response came quickly.

**[8:33 p.m.] Meet me at 1234 La Palma Strip mall at 10**

**[8:35 p.m.]** **_What on earth are we going to be doing so late???_ **

**[8:39 p.m.] Aw, is it past Wise Girl’s bedtime?**

I groaned. I just wanted to know what we’d be doing that doesn't require starting until 10 pm. Because most things that come to mind are more relationship type things instead of friend-type things.

 **[8:41 p.m.]** **_Fine I'll be there. But if you murder me, Piper will know it was you and will probably murder you herself._ **

A few minutes later he replied with a smiley face and it was honestly embarrassing how happy those two characters made me.

* * *

 The strip mall was one of the jankiest things I  had ever seen. **[AN: This strip mall is totally made up, though apparently there is a strip mall on La Palma Ave. in LA...who knew]** My theory that Percy was going to murder me was seeming slightly more plausible by the second.

After a few minutes of waiting in my car, desperately hoping no one would recognize me, another car finally pulled into the lot - a small blue Prius.

No way in _hell_ Percy Jackson drives that car. But sure enough, he emerged a moment later, having to literally unfold himself as he stepped out.

As I stepped out of my car, his face morphed into a huge grin, but I was still slightly peeved about not knowing what we're doing, so I couldn't return it.

“Alright I'm here, now what?” I asked, looking around at all the clearly closed shops.

“This way,” he said and began walking away, not waiting to see if I followed.

We made our way to one of the closed shops, which had a brightly painted sign.

“La Palma Mini Golf?” I asked incredulously.

“You bet,” Percy said with a giant smile.

As he reached for the door, I saw the sign on it that they close at 10 pm. It was most definitely after that by now.

“Seaweed Brain it's not even open anymore”

“Well let's just say I have it on good authority that there's an after hours special.”

He winked and pulled the door open. Strolling inside, he called out, “Grover!”

A man about our age wearing a Rasta cap emerged from a back room.

“Percy!” he ran forward and was engulfed in a huge hug from the swimmer.

“Grover, this is Annabeth.” Percy stepped to the side and pointed at me.

Grover let out a sound that almost sounded like a bleat, “ _The_ Annabeth Chase?”

I gave a small curtsey, “In the flesh.”

Grover ran forward and captured one of my hands with both of his, “It's such a pleasure to meet you. I'm a huge fan. And also this kid won't shut up about you.”

When I turned back to Percy, his face was bright red and he was rubbing the back of his neck.

“Uh, anyway. Ready to get your ass kicked in mini golf Wise Girl?”

Since Grover owned the mini golf place, he kept it open late just for us. No fans, no paparazzi, just the two of them. It almost felt like… a date.

Percy trash talked throughout the whole game, yet I was the one who kicked ass. I won handily, which I happily gloated about as we handed our clubs back in to Grover.

“So anyways,” Percy cut off my bragging, “How do you feel about some ice cream?”

I looked at my watch and saw it was 11:30 p.m. I shrugged to myself and decided to just go with it.

I seemed to do that a lot around Percy.

* * *

 It was midnight by the time we strolled into the only restaurant with ice cream open at this time of night- McDonald's.

Luckily, since it was a Tuesday night, the place was completely empty, save for a group of 5 teenagers being rowdy in the corner. We went to order, thinking maybe they wouldn't recognize us.

However, a tall Olympic swimmer and a famous singer with distinct curly blonde hair are hard to miss.

The woman behind the counter raised her eyebrows at us as we approached, but didn't comment. Just as we were being handed our ice cream, one of the teenagers yelled,

“Oh my God, It's Percy Jackson!”

I rolled my eyes as a smirk made it's way onto his face. Of course they would recognize him first.

After a few minutes of pictures and questions, our ice cream was starting to melt and the teenagers thankfully let us go eat in peace.

Apparently, in my haste to eat my melting dessert, I managed to smear some of it on my nose. Percy snickered to himself, before reaching over and dabbing it with a napkin.

Some of the girls from earlier squealed and I stiffened, realizing how intimate that must have looked. Horrified, I turned towards them to see that one of them did indeed have a phone pointed in our direction.  

Oh god, if that got out, the press would have a field day.

“Well I’m tired, I’m sure you’re still tired from how hard you swam yesterday. Maybe we should call it a night?” I started, wanting to get out of the public’s eye as soon as possible.

“Yeah,” Percy yawned while stretching, “Wait, you watched me swim yesterday?”

Everything suddenly felt far too hot, so I rushed out of the McDonald's, stuttering as I went, “got to go, I’ll talk to you later.”

I practically ran to my car, started the engine, and backed out of my spot - all in under a minute. Just as I was pulling away, Percy ran out of the building.

In the rear view mirror, I saw his hand outstretched towards me. Ignoring the sinking in my chest, I forced myself to keep driving.

* * *

 “So you totally don't have feelings for him?” Piper asked with an edge to her voice as she slammed a magazine onto my desk the next morning.

 _Of course_ the pictures leaked. I was a fool to think they wouldn't.

“Piper I swear it wasn't as bad as these pictures make it seem. We just went for mini golf and ice cream. _As friends,”_ I emphasized.

“Are you sure he saw it that way?” Piper asked as she pointed to the picture of him wiping the ice cream off my nose. It was sickeningly sweet and my stomach twisted.

“Considering he has a girlfriend, I assume so.”

Piper gave me a look and I just knew what she was trying to imply and shut it down before she had the chance.

“Piper, he's not like that. He's one of the most loyal people I've met-- there's no way he'd cheat. Especially out in public like that. It was a friendly outing, end of story.”

She raised her hands in surrender, “Okay I believe you. Unfortunately, I've had to coordinate with Percy’s manager, Chiron, and you're both going to have to make multiple appearances denying any involvement with one another.”

My heart stopped, “So that means…”

“Yes,” Piper cut me off with a sympathetic look, “you'll have to go on air and deny any feelings for Percy Jackson.”

_Well shit._


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally I only planned for this story to be a few chapters long, but now that I'm really going, I have so many more ideas! Many more to come :)

Luckily the interviews for me weren't hard. It was pretty easy to explain how I’d connected with Percy over the fundraiser and we wanted to stay in contact about the cause. Oh and we had to meet so late because we’re both so busy. Pretty easy talking points. 

Percy’s interviews were a bit tougher- constantly questioning his fidelity. However, being the extremely personable guy he is, he breezed through them. The smiles he wore when talking about Rachel were so genuine that it made my heart clench.

Well, at the very least, the paparazzi were off our backs, seemingly believing our stories. Piper and Chiron were my heroes for orchestrating such good publicity for us. 

Unfortunately, part of that publicity plan was staying away from Percy for what was going on two weeks now. You'd think since I barely know the guy it wouldn't be a big deal, but I feel this urge to talk to him every day. 

One day, Piper came strolling in with a pizza and plopped down next to me on the couch, where I had been strumming my guitar.  

“You should throw a party.”

I scoffed, “should I now?”

“I mean why not? It's be a great time to reconnect with friends you've been too busy to see. You know, Thalia, Leo, Jason,”

I actually laughed out loud, “Oh my god you totally want me to throw a party just so you can hang out with Jason again.”

Piper flushed but just kept going, “You could invite Percy. It'd be a low key time for you to hang out again. I know you've missed him.” 

“I'll think about it,” I said as I grabbed a slice of pizza and stuffed it into my mouth, hoping it would effectively end the conversation before it got too far into Percy-territory.

* * *

Yeah, I'm throwing a party tonight. It was going to be pretty small and laid back, considering how last minute I'd thrown it together. I'd invited my band and all of their friends, some of Piper’s friends  (which of course included Jason). Oh, and Percy. 

I'd sent him a text last weekend telling him that I was having a casual get together and that he should come. I slipped in that Rachel was welcome too, but I was secretly hoping he wouldn't bring her. I never heard back from him. 

So here I was, the first of my guests filtering in, dressed up for a guy I'm pretending not to care about, who may or may not show up. Thalia was the first guest to show up, Jason standing shyly behind her. 

“Aw aren't you two cute? Showing up at the party together! Sibling bonding!” I teased. 

Thalia rolled her eyes and shoved a bottle of Smirnoff into my arms as she brushed past me. 

“Psh I was too lazy to take a cab so I hitched a ride with this one.” Thalia jerked her hand at Jason, who was giving me a quick hug. 

Jason was glancing around, and I figured it wasn't because he was appreciating my interior designer. 

“Piper’s in the kitchen,” I said, giving him a knowing look. 

Blushing, he made his way to the kitchen while Thalia snickered at him. 

“Ugh he's like a lovesick puppy,” Thalia began, “Which, by the way, I've heard is what you've been like lately too.”

I rolled my eyes, “Hardly.”

“Oh C’mon. I saw all those tabloid articles - y’all looked pretty cozy in that McDonald's,” she was barely containing her laughter by the end of that.

“Shush your mouth missy. Now, let's get you a drink.” I started walking to the kitchen, assuming she'd follow at the mention of alcohol. 

“Annabeth- seriously. I hope it works out. He's cute and he’s a genuinely nice guy. I knew him in high school.”

I whipped around, “You knew Percy Jackson in high school and just failed to mention that fact to me ever??” 

Shrugging, she replied, “It never came up.”

“I invited him tonight, maybe you can have a mini high school reunion.”

Thalia eyebrows shot up, “He's coming tonight?”

“Well, I invited him. He never, uh, responded”

“Well knowing that boy, he'll be the first one here”

I took a large pull from my drink, “You didn't hear me say this, but I hope so.”

* * *

The party was in full swing now - complete with far too many drunk people for my liking. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, though I'm not sure I could be included. 

Just like deja vu, I was standing at a party, waiting on the arrival of Percy Jackson. It was stupid, really. It's not like he said he was coming or anything. And even if he was, it's not like anything could happen between us. 

The night dragged on, and I tried to forget about it, but found that easier said than done. Luckily, alcohol was there for me and I felt progressively more carefree as the night went on. 

Eventually, it was just Thalia and me left, giggling at old memories. 

“Wait, where'd Piper go?” I said, realizing she was no longer present. 

Thalia wrinkled her nose in disgust, “She left with my brother like an hour ago.”

I barked out a laugh, glad that Piper had finally gotten together with Jason. 

“So you don't have a ride home? Do you need to stay the night?”  

“Nah I already called a cab,” Thalia stood up as she announced, “and it just arrived. Thanks for a wonderful evening Annie,” 

Watching her walk out to the awaiting cab, I slowly shut the door. Right before she closed it, I heard her call out to someone. 

“Hey Kelp Head,” 

Kelp head? Also who was showing up at my house this late? I definitely wasn't expecting anyone. Not wanting to open my door back up, I peeked through the crack to see if it was someone I recognized. 

My heart skipped a beat when I saw Percy Jackson walking up my driveway  

* * *

I shut the door as quietly as I could, not wanting him to know that id seen him coming. While Attempting to fluff my hair and make myself presentable after a night of partying, I huffed, realizing it was useless. Maybe it was better if I looked like I had a wild night. 

Ugh, since when did I care about shit like this? I hadn't felt like this ever before. 

My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. When I opened it, I was greeted with a bashful looking Percy holding out a bottle of wine. 

“I know I'm late but I’m ready to partay…” he trailed off as he realized the house was silent and empty behind me. 

Grabbing the bottle of wine, I started walking to the kitchen and called out over my shoulder, “Well then you should have showed up 5 hours ago, when the party actually started, Seaweed Brain.”

I put the wine bottle away and pulled out something stronger and started making a drink.

“You want one?” I asked as I heard Percy pad into the kitchen. 

“No thanks, Wise Girl, I have early practice tomorrow”

“What on earth are you even doing here then?” I questioned incredulously. 

Percy just shrugged with his signature grin, “it's not every day that you get invited to a house party hosted by THE Annabeth Chase.” 

I rolled my eyes, “Oh yeah, I'm sure you  _ never  _ get invited to parties hosted by celebrities.”

In response, he grinned, but added nothing more to the conversation. Though normally I'm a fan of comfortable silences, I'd (embarrassingly) missed his voice so I took over.

“Hey why were you so late anyways? Did you have practice this late?” 

He seemed to hesitate for a moment, looking down at his feet, “Uh, no. I actually had, um, a date with Rachel.” 

I took an extra long gulp from my drink before I put it down. 

“Oh that's….nice” 

Damnit, I hesitated. That didn't even sound vaguely sincere. 

“What did you do?” I tried to lace my voice with sincerity.

Internally, I was kicking myself for asking such a stupid question. I  _ really  _ didn't want to hear what they did. I took another long swig of my drink and braced for a painful couple of minutes. 

“Not much. Just dinner and the planetarium.”

I tried to smile with enthusiasm. That seriously sounded like a wonderful date. I couldn't even deny to myself that I was jealous. 

“That sounds nice. How come you didn't bring Rachel along with you and make it part of date night?”

He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, “Well I sort of didn't tell her she was invited.” 

“Oh” was all that I could manage right now. Something like hope was fluttering in my chest, leaving me slightly breathless. 

Percy still wasn't looking at me and the awkwardness in the room was palpable. What a fun way for the party to end.

I cleared my throat and started walking out of the room, “Are you stargazed out for the day? I'm in the mood to see some stars” 

He gulped, “Like go to the planetarium? I, uh, think it's closed for the night now,” 

“No no, silly, like go to my roof,” I said, already climbing the stairs. 

“Well gosh darn it, that sounds delightful,” he voiced as he rushed up the stairs to catch up to me.

* * *

It was 3 am and Percy and I were still sitting on my rooftop patio, talking about anything and everything. Even though he was a total seaweed brain, I found him fascinating to talk to.

I layed down flat on my back and sighed, “This is really nice.” 

Percy layed down next to me and brought his hand dangerously close to mine. 

“This is. I'm not going to lie, Wise Girl, I missed you.” 

I felt his hand brush mine and let out a breathy laugh, “Yeah I missed you too. Promise we’ll be friends from here on out and not care what anyone thinks?” 

Percy sat up abruptly and stuck his pinky out, “I pinky swear it to ya.”

Looping my pinky around his, we locked eyes and my knees started to feel a little weak. To be honest, we probably held pinkies for slightly too long to be acceptable, but it didn't care.  

“Well I should get going,  _ bestie,”  _ he declared, wrapping me in a hug. 

“Don't let Piper hear you call me that,” I mumbled into his shoulder. 

He laughed breathily into my ear, sending involuntary shivers down my spine. 

“Whatever you say,  _ bestie,” _

* * *

A few weeks later, I got a call shortly after finishing breakfast. I picked up without even checking the ID, figuring it was Piper 

“Howdy,” I greeted 

“Well howdy to you too, Wise Girl,” a low chuckling voice responded. 

“Oh Percy! Uh, hi. What can I do for you?” I grimaced at how awkward I sounded. 

“Listen, I kind of need a favor from you.”

“What kind of favor?” I replied hesitantly. 

“Well you see, there's this fundraiser this weekend…” he began, “and I RSVP’ed that I would bring a guest and well I'm kind of, guest-less at the moment.” 

“I see,” I started, but he interrupted me before I could get too far. 

“It's for another organization that helps students with learning disabilities, so I figured it is a cause that we both support anyways.” 

“Yeah I definitely am always happy to help the students. And I’d be happy to help you too, but I just have to ask, why aren't you bringing Rachel?” 

“She told me yesterday that her dad wants her to fly to Europe this weekend to spend some time with extended family she has there.”

“Oh, um okay. Yeah I can help you out. I'm just a little worried since we just got the paparazzi off our backs - I don't want to start up any new rumors” 

“Yeah,” Percy started, And I could just imagine him rubbing the back of his neck, “ I'm a bit nervous about that too, but I figure we can just say that we're thinking of hosting another fundraiser together and wanted to check out the org.” 

“Aw you want to host another fundraiser with me?” I teased. 

“If it allows us to hang out and doesn't raise suspicions, definitely.” 

My heart did not skip a beat. Nope. No way. 

“Well how about you send me some information about this - where are we meeting, what time, dress code, etc.”

“Sure thing. See you Saturday, Wise Girl.”

I bit my tongue from saying it's a date and wished him goodbye. Not even a minute later, my phone buzzed and it was a email from Percy about the event. The first thing I noticed was the title  _ Black Tie Fundraiser Invite _ .

I would definitely need a shopping trip.

* * *

I ended up settling on an emerald green dress that almost perfectly matched the colors of Percy’s eyes. That was purely coincidence, I swear. Besides the dress looked good with my hair 

Since this would be my first time meeting with the directors of this organization, I spent an extra amount of time making sure I looked nice. At least it worked as pretty good excuse so I didn't have to admit to myself why I actually spent so much time getting ready. 

Percy and I had decided to just meet at the banquet, and I wanted to make sure I was there early, even if I was pretty sure he'd be late anyways. I arrived 30 minutes early and was escorted to my seat by one of the students the organization worked with. After a few pictures and an autograph, I finally settled in at my table. 

I waited for about 5 minutes, unsure if I should check my phone or if that would seem rude. Finally, I felt someone slide into the seat beside me and let out a sigh of relief. 

I opened my mouth to say something, when I realized it was, in fact, not Percy,  but a blonde haired man with a wolfish grin 

“Um, can I help you?” I asked, hoping he'd leave me alone. 

“Hi, my name's Luke,” he stuck his hand out to shake. I tentatively grabbed it. 

“Hi Luke, can I do something for you?” 

“I know you probably don't remember this, but I was actually an extra in one of your music videos a while back --  _ We Found Love,”  _

We were both blushing as I let out a small laugh, “ No way, that's incredible. I'm sorry I don't remember, there were a lot of extras for that shoot,” 

“Oh don't worry about it  it was just an honor to be a part of it. It blew me away how incredibly talented you are. Still does,” 

He was giving me such a genuine smile, And I was blushing and oh gods this was embarrassing. Also where was Percy? 

“Well thanks.  I take it you're an actor then?” 

His face lit up, “ Yeah, I've actually done a few more music videos since then and a few tv shows. I'm slowly working my way up the ladder” 

“That's awesome,” I started, but was cut off by a very flustered looking Percy rushing in. 

“Hey Annabeth, sorry I'm late. Uh, who is this?” Percy asked tensely when he noticed I wasn't alone at the table. 

“Luke, It's an honor to meet you man,” Luke stood and offered Percy his hand. 

“You too, Luke,” Percy replied with a tight smile. Not so subtly, he sat down in the seat Luke just stood from. 

Luke's eyes widened slightly at this sign for him to leave and I rolled my eyes. He made eye contact with me and gave me a sheepish grin

“Well Ms. Chase, I best be on my way. If you're ever in need of someone for another music video, give me a call,” 

With a wink, he strolled away, leaving me blushing. I felt Percy’s eyes on me and glanced up. His expression was unreadable, unlike his usual carefree expression. 

“So Luke seemed nice,” he said before taking an alarming gulp out of the wine in front of him.  

“Yeah, he is. As it turns out he was in one of my music videos back in the day.” 

“Interesting,” Percy said, not sounding interested in the slightest. 

“What's your deal?” I asked, slamming my hand down onto the table. 

“I don't know what you're talking about,” this was followed by another large drink of wine. 

“Why are you acting all…funky?”

He took another drink, “It's just weird coming and an seeing your date chatting up another guy.” 

My stomach twisted, “Your date? I thought I was just a friend helping a friend.”

His eyes widened and his hand immediately went to run through his hair. 

“Oh, you know what I mean?” Percy began unconvincingly 

“No I really don't. I thought we were friends and I thought you'd be happy for me that I’d met someone interesting,” I sounded convincing enough as I said this, but the words felt bitter coming from my mouth. 

All I wanted was to be with Percy. But it was frustrating as hell that he was acting all jealous because of Luke but I'm just supposed to be fine with Rachel. 

Percy's mouth was opening and closing, but no words were coming out. In the back of my mind, I registered that he kind of looked like a fish. How fitting. 

I stood up abruptly, wanting some space. 

“I'm going to get a drink, I'll be back in a bit.”

* * *

Nursing my tequila sunrise at the bar, I could feel two sets of eyes on me. Luke was looking at me inquisitively and Percy was staring at me longingly. I didn't feel the desire to talk to either of them at the moment. 

Glancing around the room, I saw a pair of young women finishing up a conversation. From my research prior to the event, I recognized them as the founders of the organization.

Figuring this was as good a time as any to introduce myself, I started toward them. As I approached, both women smiled widely at me. 

“Annabeth Chase, it's an honor to have you here.” 

I smiled warmly as I shook their hands, “it's an honor to be here. This is a great cause - I love how personalized your programs are in helping the students.”

“Thanks. Pardon my asking, but I don't recall seeing you on the guest list - I think I would've noticed,” she winked before continuing, “Are you here with someone?” 

As I opened my mouth to reply, I noticed both of their eyes go wide at something behind me. A hand gently came to rest on my back, causing me to jump slightly. 

“She's here as my guest,” the charming voice of Percy announced while he stepped beside me. 

The women were batting their eyelashes, and I was wondering if Percy ever got sick of women's reactions to being around him. 

I turned towards him to see his reaction, only to find him gazing at me. When we made eye contact, he mouthed sorry to me  

I gave him a small smile, knowing I'd still want to talk about later, but forgiving him in the moment. 

“So ladies, we were considering hosting a fundraiser of our own for this cause. Why don't you give us some more information about it?” Percy asked politely. 

The women were all too happy to respond and Percy, bless his heart, gave them his full attention. I tried to pay attention to what they were saying, but all I could think about was Percy’s hand, which was still resting lightly on my back.

* * *

The night seemed to fly by. Luke had stopped by a few more times to chat, and even once to ask me to dance. I happily obliged, but did not fail to miss the glass of wine Percy finished while I was gone. 

Luke was charming and funny and it just felt natural being around him. It certainly helped that he was fairly attractive as well. Every time he came to talk to me, I felt like he was genuinely interested, not just shamelessly flirting like I experience so often. 

The fundraiser was winding down, and I was sitting with Percy, laughing at the silly things he was saying. He was clearly drunk, and I realized this is the first time I've seen him have more than a singular drink. 

His rambling was interrupted by another deep voice behind me. Luke. 

“Hey Annabeth, could I speak with you a moment?” 

“Sure,” I hopped up and followed him a few feet from the table, distinctly aware of Percy's eyes on me. 

“So I'm just about to head out for the evening, but I was just wondering if you'd like to grab coffee or lunch sometime next week? I had a really great time getting to know you tonight.”

A wide smile spread across my face, “Yeah that'd be nice. Why don't you give me your number and I'll text you some times that work for me?”

I handed my phone to him and he eagerly punched in his contact information. He gave me a quick hug and I felt the smallest sliver of hope come alive in my heart. 

Maybe this would be just what I need to distract myself from the feelings I had for Percy. 

Speaking of Percy, I sat back down beside him, only to find him giving me his irresistible puppy eyes. 

“What did Luke want?” he asked, trying to sound fierce, but failing in his drunken state. 

“He asked me out. For coffee that is, but still!” 

I turned, expecting Percy to be ecstatic for me, but found disgust written all over his face. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, given how he'd reacted to Luke earlier. 

“Now what?” I questioned, exasperated, “Do you have a problem with Luke?” 

“No no. I just don't think he's good enough for you, is all.”

He sat up a little straighter, clearly proud of how he'd defended himself. I crossed my arms over my chest and leveled a stare at him. 

“Oh, and you get to decide who's good enough for me?”

His eyes widened, “Wha-- no that's not what I meant.” 

“So what type of guy is good enough for me? You know, so I can set my standards appropriately.”

Percy scratched his neck, his telltale of nervousness, “Uh you know. Someone who is nice and who knows how to make you laugh.” 

“Luke is both of those things,” I argued. 

“There's more! Someone who really knows you for who you are. Someone who isn't interested in Annabeth Chase because she's a famous singer, but because she's  _ Annabeth Chase  _ and that woman is fucking incredible.

“Someone who understands fame and the toll it can take some days. Someone who understands what it's like to devote your life to your passion, so they'll never be jealous of the hard work you put into your career.” 

“Percy,” I began, but he mumbled something else, probably thinking I couldn't hear it. But, he was drunk and wasn't exactly stealthy about it. 

“Someone like me” 

And in that moment, my world flipped on it's axis. I was scrambling to think of something,  _ anything  _ to say. What exactly is the appropriate response when the guy you've been crushing on essentially admits he’s crazy for you, but said guy is still in a relationship? 

Suddenly, Percy stood and announced, “ I don't feel well” before rushing towards the restrooms. 

Oh yeah, I seem to have forgotten that he is quite drunk right now. Shit. Did he even mean anything he just said? I was foolish to fall for it so fast. 

A few minutes later, Percy was walking my way, and the first words he said after pouring his heart out were “I just threw up.” 

Sensing that no more discussions of unrequited love were going to happen tonight, I stood and looped my arm around his. 

“Let’s get you home.”

I called his driver and within 10 minutes, the car was ready. I was helping Percy get in when his hand closed around my wrist. 

“Don't leave,” he pleaded. 

Pulling his driver aside, I asked if he'd be willing to take me home after I made sure Percy got home safely. He assured me that it was no problem. Checking for paparazzi and thankfully finding none, I hopped in beside Percy. 

In the few minutes I'd been chatting with the driver, the Seaweed Brain had already dozed off. As I slid next to him, he muttered indistinctly and readjusted. Now his head was on my shoulder. 

I sighed, knowing I wouldn't be able to make him move now that he was so sleepy. Threading my fingers through his hair, he sighed contentedly. I figured if he was going to rest on my shoulder, I might as well enjoy it  

At some point on the drive home, his driver peered at us in the rear view mirror. The shit-eating grin he gave me was enough to cause me to make the motion of zipped lips. 

When we pulled into the driveway, I tried to wake Percy, but he barely came out of his slumber. The driver helped me haul him out of the car and to the door of his house. 

Once inside, I marveled at his house. It wasn't mansion like, but more homey than any residence I had ever been in. I've never known someone who had so many pictures hung on the wall. 

I was at a loss of where to set the sleeping giant who was still leaning on me, but luckily his driver seemed to know where his bedroom was. Once we (finally) made it up the stairs, we dumped him unceremoniously on the bed. 

The driver began to head back down to the car, but I told him I'd be just a minute. I wanted to make sure Percy was really settled for the night. I somehow managed to persuade him to lay the correct way on the bed and even get under the covers. 

After that I ran to the bathroom to find a trash bin to set by his bed. On my way back, I heard him mumble my name.

“Yeah?” I called out as I walked into the room. 

Blearily, he blinked his eyes open. 

“You're here…” he whispered. 

I sat down on the edge of the bed, “I'm just leaving. You had a lot to drink tonight and I wanted to make sure you got home fine.” 

Without warning, he lurched forward and wrapped his arms around me. I was doing mostly fine until I felt his lips distinctly touch my neck. 

“Thanks, Wise Girl.” 

There was absolutely nothing to be done about the goosebumps that had spread across my whole body. 

When he pulled back, I noticed his eyes looked a bit more sober now, but still sleep filled. 

“Seriously Annabeth, you're the greatest. I really  _ really  _ like you.”

He leaned in and kissed my cheek, causing me to blush furiously, even though there was no one else around. It was at this moment that I noticed one of the framed pictures on his bedside table-- the two of us playing mini golf. 

“I think I might even lo--” 

“Okay time for you to get back to sleep,” I cut him off and gently pushed him back down. Before he could say something we'd both regret.

My heart was roaring in my ears. I think Percy mumbled something but I honestly had no idea what he said.

He stuck his arms out for a hug, and I obliged. Once again, he left a kiss on my cheek. I stood abruptly and backed towards the door. 

“Goodnight seaweed brain.” 

“G’night Wise Girl,” he muttered sleepily. 

I practically ran down the stairs and out to the waiting car. 

“Are you okay, miss?” he asked as I stepped into the car. 

I let out a deep breath, “I'll let you know when I figure that out for myself.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have recently gotten ridiculously inspired to make this story a lot longer than i was anticipating. This single chapter is almost a third of the length of the rest of the story! Enjoy!

I called Piper as soon as I got home. Obviously, she didn't pick up since it was close to 1 in the morning, but I left her a frantic message telling her to come over first thing in the morning  

I tried to get some sleep, I really did. However, the events from last night kept replaying in my head and I was desperately trying to decipher them.

By 7 a.m. I was wide awake and cooking myself a huge breakfast, trying to distract my thoughts. Piper burst through the door then, startling me so much I flipped a pancake onto the ground.

“What the hell is going on Annabeth?? I just got your message and rushed here. Are you okay?”

Turning off the burner, I rushed over to her and placed my hands on her shoulders.

“I'm fine,” I began, “well mostly.”

She took a seat and gestured for me to continue.

“So I was with Percy last night,”

“Annabeth…” Piper began to complain, I'm sure already imaging the PR work she would have to do.

“Don't worry. It was just a fundraiser. No one knew I was coming ahead of time and we were there on the pretense of scoping it out for a future joint fundraiser.”

Piper nodded approvingly, so I continued.

“Everything was going great. I met a really cute guy, but Percy was acting all weird around him.”

I brought over two plates of the breakfast I'd made, and began alternating eating and telling the story.

“Then Percy got really drunk. I've never seen him have more than one beer, and he asked me to help him get home. So I rode with the driver and made sure he got settled into bed.

As I was getting ready to leave, Percy kissed me on the neck and two times on the cheek.”

Piper squealed at this revelation, but quickly shut up when she realized the story wasn't over yet.

“Then, right as I was about to leave, he told me that he really liked me. And I'm pretty sure he was about to tell me that he loved me.”

I had been staring at the counter, but jolted my head up when I heard the sound of silverware clanking to the floor.

“HOLY OBI WAN KENOBI” Piper screeched, “That's so wonderful!”

I leveled a glare at her, “Piper aren’t you forgetting about something?”

Confusion made it's way across her features, only to clear up a moment later, “Oh. Rachel”

“Yeah. Nothing can happen anyways. Plus I feel like maybe since he was drunk, he just didn't know what he was saying.”

Piper walked over to me and wrapped her arms around me, saying gently, “People don't usually say things like that if they don't mean them, whether they're drunk or not.”

“Ugh,” I began, dropping my head into my hands, “What am I supposed to?”

“You might not like this, but I think you just try to go on like normal. If Percy and Rachel break up, Then things are different. But trust me, for both of your sakes, don't get involved with Percy while he's still dating. It won't end well for anyone involved.”

“Yeah, you're right. I'll just pretend that it never happened. I can go back to being friends with him like I never even heard it.”

It didn't give me confidence that it came out more as a question than a statement.

“Well I actually do have a business reason for being here, Anna.”

I glanced at her inquisitively as she continued, “The studio loved _Enchanted_ so much that they want to produce a music video for it.”

“That's great! Do they have an idea of what they want it to be?”

“Yeah, about that. The song is basically a story in itself, so they wanted it to be some type of dance or event or….”

“A fundraiser?” I asked, sounding bitter.

“Obviously if you're not comfortable we can talk to them about alternative options.”

I shook my head, “No, it's the most logical choice for a video. I bet it'd be really cool. I just want to make it seem different than the fundraiser so I think a masquerade ball or something could be cool.”

Piper whipped out her BlackBerry and jotted that down.

“Any thoughts on who you'd want to cast as the male lead?”

“Luke Castellan,” the words were out of my mouth before I could even comprehend it.

Piper took note, then asked, “Any reason for him in particular?”

“He was the guy I met at the fundraiser last night. He's an actor and has actually been in one of my music videos before. We have good chemistry, I think it would translate well on screen.”

“Okay I'll get in contact with his agent.”

Words left unsaid, but I'm pretty sure Piper heard anyways when I showed her a picture of him.

_Blue eyes, blonde hair is about as far as you can get from green eyes and black hair._

* * *

 Percy had called me a few times that morning, but I let them go to voicemail, not trusting myself in a conversation with him at the moment.

When Piper left she gave a pointed glance at my phone, “If you want to stay friends with him, you're going to have to talk to him eventually.”

I pulled up the voicemails and settled myself on the couch, wrapped safely in some blankets.

_HI Annabeth, it's Percy. Uh, listen. I'm really sorry about last night, if I made you uncomfortable or anything. I really want to talk to you and make sure you're not mad at me. So yeah, give me a call back._

Interesting, I noted that he didn't say he didn't mean what he said. Oh god, maybe that's worse. I clicked into the next message.

_Hey Wise Girl, it's Percy again. I seriously didn't mean anything I said last night. I don't know what I was thinking. Please don't let this make things weird between us. Give me a call._

So he didn't mean what he said. Like I thought, just drunken words. There was one last message from about 15 minutes ago.

_It's your Seaweed Brain. And I understand why you gave me that nickname. I can't believe I said things like that and I hope I didn't freak you out. You're one of my best friends so I'll do anything to preserve our friendship. Give me a call._

Gulping, I pressed the redial number on my phone. The phone rang once, twice, then a gasping Percy answered the phone.

“Wise Girl,” he breathed.

“Seaweed Brain,” I greeted, “Why are you so out of breath?”

“I, uh, may have run from upstairs to answer my phone.”

“Wow you must really want to talk to me,” I teased.

“Annabeth, you have no idea how sorry I am. I woke up this morning and thought that was all a dream until I saw the trash can next to my bed. Oh gods I probably made you so uncomfortable.”

“Percy, you were drunk. I figured you probably weren't even aware of what you were saying. People say things they don't mean all the time when they're drunk.”

There was a suspiciously long pause on his side of the line.

“You still there?”

“Uh, yeah. I'm pretty sure I thought you were Rachel or something, that's why I said...those things.”

I bit my lip, not wanting to remind him that he had specifically called me by name. I'm fairly certain he wasn't thinking about Rachel…

“Please please tell me this won't make things weird between us. I'll do anything to make things go back to normal.”

“Perce, everything's fine. It was just drunk ramblings, like I did the first night we met, remember? Just like that, we move on and don't think twice about it. Our friendship will be just fine.”

There was a relieved sigh through the speaker, “Well how about I make it up to you. In N Out later? My treat?”

“That sounds wonderful.”

Not wanting to get caught by the paparazzi again, we both dressed up in disguises before going to the fast food chain.

Just my luck that he chose blonde hair and blue eyes as his disguise.

* * *

 The set for the _Enchanted_ music video was, well, enchanting. They had settled on my idea for a masquerade ball. The ballroom was filled with purple and silver decorations that seemed to be constantly moving just because of how the light hit them.

Sitting in my makeup chair, I appraised the set as much as I could. Piper came over to tell me that Luke had arrived and was with costume and makeup.

Even though I had chosen him, I was still nervous for the shoot. Maybe I had a little crush on him, and maybe we were set to kiss at the end of the video. We wouldn't be shooting that scene until tomorrow anyways, but that didn't stop my nerves from arriving today.

When I made my way to costume and they pulled out my dress, I gasped. It was beautiful. It was a light blue that faded into darker hues near the bottom. My brain involuntary registered that it was a dress that Percy would've loved.

Shaking the thought aside, I pulled it on and admired how the fabric perfectly formed to my body before flaring out around the waist. A few more last minute adjustments and I was declared ready for the shoot.

I stepped into the set and made my way to the director. Her face lit up when she saw me.

“Annabeth, you look marvelous! Do you have any questions for me before the shoot?”

“Do you think we should do a version where I'm singing the words and one where I'm not? I can't decide which would be the right feel for this song.”

“I like that idea. Let's shoot it both ways, and we can look at it in post-production and see what works.”

“Okay that sounds great. So walk me through the first…”

I trailed off as Luke stepped into the set. He looked _incredible._ I mean, he was attractive at the banquet, but here they had him in a tailored suit that fit him perfectly. His hair was styled in a messy, but controlled look.

He gave me a boyish grin as he strode toward us, and I felt a little light headed as I returned it.

“Cleans up nicely, doesn't he?” the director asked me with a sly grin.

I blushed, but the director spoke again before I could defend myself.

Patting me on the back, she said, “I think the chemistry in this shoot will be just perfect.”

This did nothing to help my blush. Luckily, she walked away then, saving me from further embarrassment.

Just after she left, Luke came to stand in front of me, hands tucked in his pocket.

“Hey, you look...unbelievable,” he began.

I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, “Thanks, I could say the same to you.”

I was delighted to see a small blush spread across his cheeks. He quickly composed himself, as his lips formed themselves into a smirk.

“So you ready to fall for me?” he gestured around to the set.

“I was born ready,” I said, sounding much more confident than I felt.

Just then, the director called us over, apparently ready to get the shoot started. Today, we were just filming the scenes at the masquerade ball.

They adorned us both in intricate masks and corralled all of the extras on set.

I bumped Luke's shoulder and teased, “How’s it feel to be here and not be an extra?”

“Like I'm the luckiest guy in the world for running into you at that fundraiser.”

We stayed smiling and staring into each other's eyes until the director’s call of “places, places everyone” jolted us back to reality. We shuffled off to opposite sides of the set.

I introduced myself to the extras around me who I would be fake conversing with in just a minute.

The thing no one tells you about music videos is that they are often filmed terribly out of order. Also that every small shot probably took 5 or 6 takes. In other words, It's an incredibly tiresome process.

The first scenes were me interacting with the extras, feeling like it's just another event. We had to some with me singing, And some without. Then it was Luke's turn and then we filmed us meeting. Luke kept telling me little jokes which thankfully made the day pass faster.

By  the end of the day, I was exhausted. I trudged my way back to the makeup chair so they could wipe my face clean. I didn't mind how the makeup made me look, but it just always felt so heavy.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I was cleared to go. I began to head to my car, only to discover  Luke waiting for me.

“Hey Luke, what are you waiting for?”

He scratched the back of his neck, just like Percy does when he's nervous.

“Well, you actually. I know it's been a long day, but I wondered if you wanted to hang out for a bit?”

My heart sped up and I was filled with something that almost felt like...guilt? That was preposterous, Percy was just a friend, there was no need to feel guilty. My brain seemed convinced, but the hollow feeling of guilt was still there.

I swallowed it And let a big smile adorn my face, “Yeah that'd be great. Did you have anything in mind?”

“Honestly I'm just a bit nervous about tomorrow still so I think spending more time with you will help me feel comfortable. And maybe we can even practice a few scenes.”

“Sure that sounds good. Did you want to follow me to my place?”

“Yeah let's do it.”

The whole drive home, my heart was hammering in my chest. _Was this a date? Luke mentioned he wanted to practice some scenes, Did that mean the kissing one? What would Percy think of all this?_

I had to stop my train of thought after that one. I had to give up on the idea that Percy cared what I did. Even if he did, It wasn't like he was my boyfriend. I was absolutely entitled to go on a date and maybe even get myself a boyfriend.

Maybe if I told myself it enough, it would actually sink in.

* * *

I pulled into my development, letting the guard know I had a guest behind me. She informed me that I already had a guest waiting for me at the house.

Confused, I pulled through, figuring it must just be Piper or Thalia dropping by unexpectedly. What I wasn't expecting to see in my driveway was a blue prius.

A blue prius with a certain Olympic swimmer leaned up against it.

My breath caught in my throat as I took in his taught shirt that clearly accentuated his muscles,and  his black Ray-Bans which perfectly  matched his hair. His legs were crossed at the ankles as he rested on the car, his jeans were also midnight black. And of course we was wearing bright blue, worn-in Converse.

I completely forgot about Luke until Percy’s eyebrows rose when another car pulled in after me. Cursing slightly, I stepped out and strode toward Percy.

“Hey Seaweed Brain, What are you doing here?”

A slight smirk crossed his lips, but it dropped when Luke stepped out of his car and whistled, “Nice place you got here Chase!”

“Well I just dropped by to hang out since it's been a while since we've spent time together,” Percy began, his gaze trailing over to Luke’s approaching form, “But I can see you have company.”

“We’re just gonna practice some scenes for our shoot tomorrow,” I found myself defending.

Percy just raised his eyebrows at me, “Well, I'll uh, just be leaving now.”

“No, stay!” I cringed at how desperate I sounded. Both men in my driveway turned and gave me bewildered looks.

Percy’s eyes dragged over to Luke for a second, before he opened his car door, “Not today, Annabeth. Have a nice night.”

As soon as Percy was in his car, Luke stepped over to me and put his arm around me. The moment felt wrong.

Percy gave a small wave as he backed out of my driveway. Luke waved back at him and spoke at me through his smile.

“I thought he would never leave.”

I pushed off of him and headed inside, a bad taste in my mouth.

* * *

The shoot the next day somehow went flawless. Getting to know Luke really helped our dynamic and the scenes felt easy. Not quite natural, but easy enough.

The last scene of the day was the final scene for the video-- the kiss. It was pretty much all I could think about all day, and I was a little nervous.

There was definitely some real tension between Luke and I-- it was there last night when neither of us were acting. Still, it felt wrong to have our first kiss for the cameras.

The cameras started rolling and after just a second, Luke knocked on my “apartment door” of the set.

“Hey,”  he breathed.

Without a second's hesitation, Luke surged forward, never breaking eye contact with me, and pulled me into a breathtaking kiss. We stayed together until we heard the director shout cut.

“That was great you two! How do you feel about it? Do you want another take?” she asked, walking up to us, still in each other's arms.

“Perfect,” we said in unison.

She gave us a shit-eating grin before turning to the rest of the crew to announce the completion of the shoot. As the crew applauded, Luke leaned in and kissed the top of my head.

“Now let's go celebrate,” Luke cheered to the crew, referencing the after party Piper had so graciously organized.

“I'll see you there,”Luke said, finally letting me go.

“Yeah,” I smiled breathlessly as he walked away.

Piper ran up to me and began dragging me to the car, “you're going to tell me all about _that_ on the way there.”

* * *

Luke barely left my side all night. When we weren't dancing, he was holding my hand or had his arm wrapped around me as we talked to various crew members.

Every once in awhile, I'd make eye contact with Piper, who would give me a knowing grin. I had told her about my feelings for Luke on the way over and to say she’d given us her blessing would be an understatement. She had practically told me that if I didn't make a move tonight, she'd make the move for me.

I didn't want to find out what that meant, so at the end of the night, I asked Luke to go on a date with me this weekend. The smile that lit up his face when I asked was incredible (though not quite as blinding as Percy’s).

While I was excited about the date, I couldn't stop thinking about how I screwed up my friendship with Percy the other day.

Deciding I could sit and worry about it, or actually do something, I started off to the kitchen. Digging around in the cupboard, I finally found what I needed -- blue dye.

An hour and a half later, I pulled a tray of flawless, blue chocolate chip cookies out of the oven. I immediately packed them up, hoping they'd stay somewhat warm, and hopped in my car.  

While they were cooking, I had called Piper and asked for Percy s address. Only after a lot of reassurances that I wasn't going to do anything to mess up what I had with Luke and that _yes_ this really was just a gesture of friendship did she finally give it to me.

I know I had been there once before, but 1) I was slightly drunk 2) it was night time, so I couldn't see the neighborhood well and 3) I wasn't driving and was never actually told the address.

After about 20 minutes, I pulled into the driveway and immediately recognized the exterior. It brought back a flood of memories of the last time I was here, which I shoved deep down as I knocked on the door.

When the door swung open, I opened my mouth to start my apology, only to be faced with a fiery, red-headed woman.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

“Uh, can I help you?” she asked, I'm sure confused as to why there was another woman knocking on her boyfriend’s door.

“Yeah, is Percy here?”

“Why?” she crossed her arms.

“I'm a friend, I just came to say--”

She cut me off, “Listen we're leaving in like 2 minutes, he doesn't really have the time to talk right now.”

“Oh, ok. Where are you going? He didn't mention any big upcoming trips?” I questioned as I noticed the suitcase by the door.

“New York,” she beamed, “it was a surprise trip for our anniversary, he only just told me about it last night.”

“Ah that sounds nice. Well could you give him these at least. And tell him Annabeth is sorry.”

As she grabbed the tin I saw her eyes widen as she realized it was me hiding behind the hat and sunglasses.

“Sure,” she said, not sounding convincing at all as she shut the door in my face.

I trudged my way back to the car, taking my time getting ready to leave. Selfishly, I was hoping to catch a glimpse of Percy before he left for who knows how long.

After a few minutes, I had nothing else to delay myself with, so I begrudgingly backed out of the driveway. Just as I reached the end, Percy strolled out of the house, blue cookie in hand. I smiled at the pure look of amazement on his face.

At this moment, he looked up and made eye contact with me. He was too far away for me to decipher the emotions in his eyes. Feeling uncomfortable under his gaze, I turned back to the road and swiftly drove away.

* * *

All I've seen the past few days were paparazzi photos of Percy and Rachel in New York -- eating at the Rainbow Room, going to Broadway shows, hanging out in Central Park, visiting the Met.

Thankfully, this weekend I had a date with Luke that would (hopefully) help distract me. Piper had called a meeting between Luke and I to share that she thinks we should keeps Luke’s identity as my “mysterious date” until the music video drops.

Though I don't normally like publicity ploys like this, I agree that the people will love it when they find out that it's the guy from my music video who I've been seeing. We're going on one date this weekend, where Luke will keep his face relatively obscured. Then next week, after the music video is released we’ll have a very public date.

We decided on paintball as our first date, since Luke can keep a helmet on for the majority of the date. Plus, I'm ridiculously competitive, so Luke was going _down._

When we arrived, we jumped right into the game, which was just the two of us, since we'd rented out the whole place. I was kicking Luke’s butt after about 30 minutes, when I noticed the first paparazzi van show up.

I was distracted trying to see where they were setting up that I didn't notice Luke jump out in front of me. His two paint bullets hit me rapid fire in the chest, and I’d be lying if I said it didn't hurt. That would leave a bruise for sure.

I made the time out gesture, so we made our way over to the pavilion. As soon as we were out of the play zone, I whipped my helmet off and shook my hair out.

“I see we have company,” Luke's muffled voice came out from under his helmet.

I nudged his shoulder, “You still okay with this plan?”

He threw his arm over my shoulder, “Of course, babe.”

I blushed at the use of the nickname, but it didn't feel quite right when he said it. We hung out for a few more minutes, before walking hand in hand back to the field, really playing it up for the cameras.

At the end of the next round, I was solidly declared the winner for the day, and Luke had decided he had had enough. We carefully positioned ourselves so his back was facing the photographers and he finally took his helmet off.

“Holy hell I thought my head was going to start on fire,” He exclaimed as he handed it back to the workers.

I smiled at him, before leaning forward to capture his lips in a chaste kiss.

He smiled at me before donning his hat and sunglasses that were serving as his disguise for the day. Ducking his head, we walked swiftly to the car, now being photographed outright by the paparazzi.

I threw a wave and a smile to the cameras before climbing into the car. Unexpectedly, Luke leaned over from the driver's seat and pulled me into a deep kiss. Even with my eyes closed, the flash from the cameras was blinding.

Luke was quiet on the drive home until we pulled into my driveway.

Turning towards me and smirking, he asked, “So, shall I come in?”

I instantly panicked- I hadn't even assumed he'd want to come in. To be honest, I liked Luke, but I hadn't had any thoughts _like that_ about him yet.

“Oh, I’m pretty tired, I think I'm actually just going to take a nap,” I tried to let him down easy.

Frustration flashed across his face, before it settled back onto a neutral expression.

“Sure, Annie,” he smiled tightly. I went for a kiss before I jumped out of the car, but it lacked emotion.

What a great end to a first date, I thought, shaking my head as I walked into my house.

* * *

Percy was back from New York, according to his Instagram, but I still hadn't heard from him. I was seriously starting to worry that I’d messed things up. I mean, We were relatively new friends so it's not like our connection was that deep.

In other news, some beautiful bruises were flowering on my collar bones from paintball. Thinking it would be an easy way to see where I stood with Percy, I took a quick Snapchat of the bruises. I captioned it “What a first date” and sent it along.

I watched as it registered as having been delivered to “Seaweed Brain”. Only a few seconds later, he opened it. Almost instantly after that, my phone rang. Sure enough, it was Percy.

“Hey Seaweed Brain,” I greeted, hoping this meant that he wasn't mad.

“Annabeth, are you okay?!? Did Luke hit you?? I swear when I see him next, I'm going to...,” Percy began, sounding frantic before I cut him off.

“Woah Percy I'm fine, Luke didn't hit me. We played paintball this last weekend.”

He audibly exhaled through the phone, “Oh thank goodness,”

“I’m sorry to have freaked you out. I promise Luke's not like that,” I assured him.

He paused before responding, “Okay. But promise me if he starts to do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable, that you'll tell me about it?”

“Uh, sure,” I agreed, a little confused as to why he was suddenly so concerned about my relationship.

“Okay, well I'll Just talk to you later,” he said, sounding a bit unsure even to me.

“No wait. How-- how have you been?” I cringed at my desperate attempt to keep the conversation going.

“I've been alright Wise Girl. Thanks for the cookies.”

I could practically picture the grin on his face.

“Did Rachel relay my message?”

“What? You talked to Rachel?” he sounded genuinely surprised.

“Well, Yeah. I dropped the cookies off with her and told her to tell you that I'm sorry about the other day after the shoot.”

“Oh no, I just saw the blue cookies on the counter and then when I saw you as we were leaving I figured you had just dropped them off.”

“Oh,” I said, feeling awkward as Percy muttered quietly in frustration.

“I really am sorry,” I continued, “Just because I'm going out with Luke now, I don't want that to interfere with our friendship. If I had known you were going to stop by, I wouldn't have invited Luke over.”

“Hey I get it. I reacted unfairly. I have to split my time between you and Rachel, so it wasn't right of me to be frustrated when you were just trying to do the same.”

“Okay, So you're not mad?”

He chuckled, “No, don't worry about it Wise Girl. Though I am going to have a talk with Rachel about not relaying messages to me when someone comes to the door.”

I laughed awkwardly, grasping for straws at what to say next to keep the conversation going.

“Hey Annabeth, I actually have to go now. It was nice catching up, we should hang out soon.”

“Yeah, we definitely should,” my smile evident in my voice.

“And hey, you should check out next week’s issue of Sports Illustrated,” Percy boasted mysteriously before hanging up the phone.

* * *

I totally forgot about the magazine Percy wanted me to read until it hit me in the face. Literally.

Piper had walked in and thrown the Sports Illustrated at Me, which would've been fine, had I been paying attention. When I picked it up off the floor, the first thing I noticed was a very shirtless and a very toned Percy on the cover.

I stifled a gasp but Piper was still chuckling at my surely red face. The title read “Dive into the Details of the Olympics Best Swimmer: An All-In Interview with Percy Jackson”

“Thought you might like to read that,” Piper teased with a wink.

“He told me that I should check out this issue of Sports Illustrated. The arrogant asshole,” I trailed off.

“I wanted to wait and read it all with you, but I was flipping through it as I was waiting in the checkout line and well. You should read page 38.”

Intrigued, I hastily flipped to the aforementioned section to see that it was in the middle of his Q&A section.

**So Percy, we can't help but notice that you always seem to rock out right before your big races. I think we're all wondering- what song has you jamming out that hard?**

_Well to be honest with you, Krista, it's Annabeth Chase. There’s just something about her voice that is simultaneously soothing and inspiring.  Blank Space off her last album just_ **_gets_ ** _me, you know?_

_I listen to at least 3 of her songs before every swim meet now and they seem to be working pretty well for me. Maybe Annabeth is my good luck charm._

**Ah, speaking of Ms. Chase, it seems we've been seeing a lot of the two of you together. Care to elaborate on your relationship?**

_Annabeth is, well, perfect. There's almost no other way to describe her. She performs with such intensity, but offstage she's so incredibly witty and kind, when she's not teasing me, that is._

_We met when we were forced to co-host a fundraiser by our managers (who neglected to tell us we were co-hosting, mind you). You might not get her to admit this, But I'm pretty sure Annabeth hated my guts the minute I walked in the door._

_Somehow, I managed to convince her to get to know me and we became fast friends. Annabeth’s an incredible woman and I feel blessed to be friends with her. Plus backstage  passes at her concerts are pretty sweet._

I slammed the magazine shut with a shaky breath. I could feel Piper’s eyes on me, gauging how I was doing. 

_“What_ was that?” I asked.

“Annabeth Chase,” Piper announced dramatically, “I think Percy Jackson may be in love with you.”

* * *

Piper could not have been more wrong.

We hastily flipped back to the start of the interview and decided to read it all before freaking out too much. Lo and behold, just a few paragraphs after he was talking about me, he dropped the bombshell that he and Rachel are moving in together next week.

Of course, this article just had to come out on the day we released the Enchanted video too. All major media news was reporting on that stupid Seaweed Brain’s updated relationship status. I wouldn't care as much if it were _literally any other news_ that was overshadowing my video release.

Piper tried to reassure me that with my date with Luke tomorrow, the video would get extra lift. I wasn't so sure.

By the way, is it terrible that I totally forgot I had a date with Luke?

My heart was heavy by the time I reached the last page of the article. Percy had revealed, for the first time ever, details of his home life as a child. And it turns out he had an abusive step father through middle school and the early part of high school.

My stomach twisted with every word, imaging a young scared Percy with a fear of going home.  He'd shared with me how close he was with his mom and I can only imagine how that must have made the situation exceptionally hard.

And just like that, the dots connected in my head about his protectiveness over Luke the other day. Maybe he wasn't being arrogant at all when he asked me to read this. Maybe he just wanted me to understand.

* * *

Saturday morning I awoke to a text from Percy ( **A/N: Percy’s texts are normal font, Annabeth’s are italics)**

 **[8:27 a.m.]** **Hey did you read the article?? ;)**

I groaned and got up, vowing to take a shower and eat a good breakfast before I dealt with replying.

Eventually, I picked my phone up only to find another text waiting.

 **[9:45a.m]** **left you that speechless how awesome I am, huh?**

 **[10:02 a.m.]** **_Well I had no idea you were such a fanboy. Maybe I'll have to sign an autograph for you.  ;)_ **

I tried to ignore how much this conversation feels like flirting as I pressed send.

 **[10:04 a.m.]** **Maybe you will…**

I sensed that he was waiting for me to bring up one of the other two major topics in the article, and I sure as shit didn't want to talk about his relationship development.

 **[10:05 a.m.]** **_Hey, I'm sorry about your stepfather. I had no idea. I'm sorry I freaked you out last week with my date with Luke._**

**[10:10 a.m.] it's okay. I don't bring it up for a reason - I don't want pity. It was a terrible time of my life, but I don't regret it. It made me who I am today. I worked hard at swimming in middle school because if I could win championship money, maybe I could get my mom and I out.**

**[10:11 a.m.]** **I just know how hard it was on my mom and I never want to see another person I care about go through that again. That's why I was concerned.**

I swallowed the lump in my throat as I tried to figure out how to respond.

 **[10:15 a.m.]** **_thanks. You're a really great friend, Perce._**

He didn't reply.

* * *

The date with Luke went horribly. Everything looked fine for the cameras, and there's was a lot of buzz about the mystery identity of my date finally being revealed, but it was so…lackluster.

We could barely keep a conversation all night, Luke constantly looked like he was bored, and he only kissed me when we were in front of cameras. It felt like a publicity stunt, rather than a date, but I thought he had been actually interested in me.

As soon as I got to my room, I groaned and flopped onto my bed. In a split second decision, I picked up my phone and dialed Percy.

“What’s shakin’ bacon?” he greeted, immediately making me feel better.

“Ugh. My date with Luke was the worst. I don't know how you do the whole ‘dating thing’” I said, using air quotes even though I knew he couldn't see them.

“Ruh roh. Want to talk about it?”

I took a deep breath, “it's just...I thought Luke actually liked me. I thought he could be my first real boyfriend in a long time and it just felt like he was only in it for the publicity. He was the perfect gentleman when cameras were around, but seemed like he'd rather be anywhere else the rest of the time. Am I really that dull?”

“Annabeth I promise you're one of the most interesting people I've ever met. If Luke can't see that then that's his problem. Maybe he was just having an off day- has he told you that he was just looking for publicity?”

“Well, no. And it seemed like last weekend he was genuinely interested in me, which is why I'm so confused as to why he was so cold this weekend.”

The line was silent for a moment, so I spoke up again.  

“I know that I could go along with it, I'm sure it _is_ great exposure. But I've never been a big fan of that. If I'm dating, I want it to be _real_ ,” I took a big gulp, preparing myself for the pain of what I was about to say, “You know, something like you and Rachel have.”

Percy coughed before responding, “Uh, yeah. About that…”

“I've just always thought it was stupid to date for publicity. Why waste any time of our short lives here not in pursuit of the true thing? Wait that might be the premise for an amazing song,” I rushed to grab a notepad to jot down the idea before I lost it.

“Did I just witness _the_ Annabeth Chase come up with her next big hit?” Percy asked incredulously.

“Maybe so, Seaweed Brain. It's hardly written yet. I can't silence my brain so I doubt I'll get very far on it.”

“Wise Girl, you know what you need?” Percy questioned me.

“A pint of Ben and Jerry’s?” I jokingly guessed.

Percy barked out a laugh, “No I think you need a vacation. Just get away from all this celebrity shit for a week. Clear your head, write some songs, and just take some time for you.”

I pondered for a moment, “You know Percy, that actually sounds like a wonderful idea. I think I'll call Piper right after this and try to organize something.”

“That's the spirit! Where do you think you'll go?”

“Hmmm. Good question, I was thinking Hawaii sounds pretty nice.”

“Ohhhhh I'm so jealous, you have to Skype me when you're there.”

I hid my grin behind my hand, even though no one could see me anyways, “Sure thing, Seaweed Brain.”

“Alright well I better get going, I have a meeting with Chiron that I'm probably already late for. Hope your trip is relaxing and the break you need. Safe travels.”

“Bye Perce, I'll talk to you later.”

Hanging up on Percy, I immediately dialed Piper who thought it was a great idea-- though maybe the fact that she got to tag along on a free trip to Hawaii had something to do with it.

The next day, I was on my private jet to Kauai.

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New Chapter! I've been working on this for a while and finally got sick of it so I finished this up super quick tonight. Probably not the best because of how quick I did it, but hopefully you enjoy!

Piper had tried to convince me to stay at a fancy resort, but I wanted this trip to be a complete getaway. We ended up renting a private, 2 bedroom villa right on the oceanfront. It was modest, small, and secluded --which was everything I was hoping from the trip.

I could comfortably walk out to the small dock extending from the backyard without worry of paparazzi or fans bothering me. Most of my trip so far had been spent dangling my legs over the dock, songbook in my lap.

“Annabeth,” Piper called from the balcony of the house, “You have a call waiting. You want to come in and talk or should I tell him to call back later?”

“I'll come in. Just give me a minute.”

I slowly stood and closed my songbook. I had written two decent songs so far, but I'm not sure they were album worthy. Both of them have been about the conflicting nature of my relationship with Luke.

Speaking of Luke, he hasn't even spoken to me since I told him I was taking a vacation. Not even a goodbye. I was happy that he’s finally called.

Piper was talking animatedly on my phone. She grinned sheepishly as I approached and handed it to me.

“Hello,” I greeted shyly.

“Hey Wise Girl. How's Hawaii treating you?” came a voice I did not expect on the other side of the line.

A smile made it's way across my face before I could stop It, earning a shit-eating grin from Piper.

“Well howdy Seaweed Brain, this is unexpected.”

“Haven't you learned I'm an unexpected person by now, Annabeth dearest?” he teased.

I chuckled, but had no time to respond before he continued, “so have you written an entire album already?”

“Hardly. I've written two songs on the dock but I really don't think they're good enough to be on my album.”

“I bet they're incredible,” he stated simply, not a shred of doubt in his voice.

I scoffed, “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Perce, but I know I can do better. Luckily, we have a beautiful view of the ocean and it's inspiring all kinds of ideas. It's just a matter of stringing those thoughts together.”

“Wait wait, you're staying right on the beach? Annabeth Chase you need to Skype me right this instant.”

Without hesitation, I grabbed my computer and opened Skype.

“Okay what's your username?” I questioned, hands poised over the keyboard ready to type. He mumbled something that was entirely incoherent.

He coughed awkwardly, “Uhhhh….swimmerboy4lyfe...with a y in ‘life’”

Before I could help myself, I burst out laughing, “Well, I'll give it to you, it's very true to your character,”

Just then, the video connected, and he was bright red from blushing.  

“I made that in 8th grade, okay?” he greeted, “ _anyways_ show me the ocean! Please Annabeth, show me!”

I rolled my eyes as I picked up my computer and headed for the back door. As I stepped outside, I flipped my computer around so the camera was facing the shore as I walked towards the beach.

“YASSSSSS” I heard Percy yell from the computer, “Ugh I am so jealous of you right now.”

Eventually, I settled myself on the dock, facing the house so that the ocean was behind me on the camera. Percy had insisted the water stay in view the whole time.

“I had no idea you had such an affinity for the ocean,” I Chuckled as I sat down.

“Annabeth, I love all things related to water,” a thoughtful look came over his face before he continued, “Actually though, my mom used to take me to Montauk all the time growing up -- it's where her and my biological father met.

He was an avid sailor and got lost at sea about 6 months before I was born. The ocean is fascinating to me because of its power to bring things together and it's equally strong power to tear things apart. It can look so calm and be raging underneath. It's fascinating to me.”

“Wow Percy, that was really...deep. I've never thought about the ocean that way,” I started, “I'm sorry about your dad, by the way.”

“Well I didn't exactly know the guy. Mom says I look just like him, though,” he shrugged.

With a wink, I replied, “Must've been a handsome fellow.”

I delighted at the blush that bloomed across his cheeks. He mumbled a thanks and scratched the back of his neck before clearing his throat.

“So you been singing lots of Moana songs?” he asked, grinning.

“Um excuse me? Lilo and Stitch is far and away the better Disney movie set in Hawaii.”

“No way. Have you seen how much of a badass Moana is? Not to mention _THE_ Rock is in it.”

“Lilo and Stitch is centered around Elvis songs! It doesn't get any more classic than that!” I argued.

“But Stitch is so weird,” Percy said with a disgusted look on his face.

“As if that chicken thing from Moana isn't??” I exclaimed.

Percy shook his head, “Oh Annabeth, this is such a disappointing revelation for our relationship.”

I started for a second at the mention of a relationship, but snapped out of it when I noticed Percy’s mouth moving again.

“C'mon you have to admit that ‘How Far I'll Go’ is one of the greatest Disney jams of all time.”

“It’s okay I guess,” I shrugged noncommittally.

“Wise Girl!” Percy admonished, “I'm going to prove to you how much love there is for Moana.”

On screen, Percy pulled out his phone, turning it around to show me that he was opening Twitter.

As he typed, he read aloud, “How Far I’ll Go is one of the best Disney songs at all time. Retweet if you agree”

He proudly showed me his screen before pressing send.

“Now I’ll show you precisely how wrong you are.”

“Okay Seaweed Brain. Wow, that name just keeps getting more fitting,” I commented, barely containing my smirk.

Someone called Percy’s name from another room in the background.

“Well that's my cue. We’ll talk later in the week, yeah?” he asked hopefully.

“Yeah. Have fun not on the beach,” I teased before closing the call.

I thought to myself before closing my computer, deciding it might be fun to record a cover song to upload for my fans later. I quickly ran inside and grabbed my ukulele.

Okay, so this cover may be very specifically for one black-haired fan of mine….

* * *

 A few hours later and the video was uploaded with nearly 5 million views already. Piper had come out in the middle of me practicing for it and told me that it was ‘a bad-ass cover’ and that i should consider adding it to my setlist for the upcoming tour.  

When I uploaded it, I replied to Percy’s tweet with nothing but the link to the video. In a twist of fate that I couldn't wait to rub in, my video had more retweets than his Initial tweet.

It looked like he must not have been on Twitter in awhile because he hadn't said anything about it. And if I know Percy, he will have something  (likely in all caps) to say about it.

Sure enough, about an hour later, my phone buzzed on the dock beside me. I smiled as I read three texts, which came in rapid succession.

**[2:15 p.m.]** **U R INCREDIBLE**

**[2:15  p.m.] LIKE SERIOUSLY ANNABETH YOUR VOICE IS….WOW**

**[2:16 p.m.] ALSO YOU TOTALLY AGREE THAT IT'S SUCH A JAM !!**

These were followed immediately by a Twitter notification. Turns out Percy had also retweeted my video with the caption “CASE AND POINT”

Based on some of the replies to this tweet, it looks like we may have opened the dating rumors can of worms again. I decided to not worry about it too much right now and just enjoy the silliness of the moment.

**[2:18 p.m.]** **_It's an okay song I guess ;)_**

I replied, not caring if I was being too flirtatious. I was currently on a song high, where I feel invincible after recording a new song or releasing a cool cover like this.  

Piper called from the deck that our dinner was on the way -- we had ordered local delivery. Slowly, I made my way back up to the house, thankful Percy suggested I do this trip. It was doing wonders for my stress levels and happiness.

I realized with a jolt that I hadn't talked to Luke the whole time I’d been here. The traitorous part of my mind wondered if that was part of the reason I was so happy.

Deciding I should text him, I pulled out my phone and sent a quick text asking how his week had been.  When dinner arrived, I completely forgot about the text as I got lost in conversation with Piper.

It wasn't until the next day when I opened my messaging app that I noticed he never responded.  Thinking maybe my service was bad, I decided to give him a call. I waited patiently as it rang, eventually going to voicemail.

“Hey Luke, it's Annabeth! I'm safe and sound in Hawaii and just wanted to chat with you and see how your week has been. I miss you and hope we can talk soon. If I don't hear back from you, I'll try you again tomorrow and maybe our timing will be better. Talk to you soon.”

“Haven't heard from him yet?” Piper called as she came to sit next to me on the dock.

“No, I'm worried I made him mad when I took off unexpectedly to come here,” I voiced the thoughts in my head.

Piper studied me for a moment, “Are you really that upset about that?”

Sighing, I replied, “No. Honestly, I didn't feel any connection on our last date and I get the feeling he’s in this more for the publicity than anything. What do I do? I actually liked him.”

“Key word: liked,” she replied, “If you don't feel anything then break it off when you get back. I know how you feel about dating for publicity and you absolutely shouldn't keep it going just for that. Lord knows you and Percy are doing an excellent job keeping your name in the news.”

She muttered that last part, and I almost didn't hear It.

“ _What?”_ I exclaimed.

“Oh c'mon Annabeth, this should _not_ be surprising to you. Every time you guys are spotted together there's a media storm. You're two of the most powerful people in Hollywood right now and it's an unlikely friendship.  The press is all over it.”

“ I suppose,” I started, my voice small, “is that a bad thing?”

Piper waved me off dismissively, “Now that they don't think you two are having a secret affair, it's no problem at all. Everyone loves the Percabeth friendship.”

“Excuse me, what in Hades is _Percabeth??”_

“Oh you haven't heard that?” Piper questioned, continuing when I shook my head, “Well I suppose that started off as your ship name. Now that you've both quelled the dating rumours, most people have been appeased by using it as a name for your friendship.”

“How am I just hearing about this now?”

Piper shrugged, “You don't read online commentary about yourself, which is absolutely a good thing.”

A thoughtful look crossed her face before she spoke again, “Though in the interest of full disclosure, there are a LOT of people that still ship you two.”

I rolled my eyes as I stood, “Well, doesn't really matter as long as he's dating Rachel. It's pretty much impossible” I grumbled.

Piper jumped up too and pulled me into a hug, “I don't think it's as impossible as you think. That boy is crazy about you.”

“Yeah yeah, sure. You keep saying that, but I don't see him breaking things off with Rachel and rushing to me.”

Piper just gave me an indecipherable look for a few seconds. It seems I had finally brought her to a loss of words. Eventually she grabbed my hand and started pulling me back to the house.

“Hey, we're supposed to be relaxing on this trip! How about we go snorkeling on the other side of the island for the day and just forget all about stupid boys?”

* * *

 The next day I still hadn't heard back from Luke. I decided to send him a text, hoping I could get a response. No such luck.

I was starting to wonder if maybe I didn't have good service here. That'd be a good explanation as to why he was ignoring me…

Just as I thought this, my phone rang, disproving that theory. I picked up without even checking the caller ID, filled with a newfound hope that Luke was finally calling.

“Hello?” I answered excitedly.

“Hey Wise Girl,” Percy greeted slowly.

“Oh hi Percy. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“How...how are you holding up?” he said cautiously.

“I'm fine. Hawaii's nice. How's training treating you?” I replied.

“Uh, it's busy. You're sure you're doing fine? I'm here if you want to talk about it. I mean I know you have Piper there but just -- “

I interrupted, thoroughly confused, “Seaweed Brain, _what_ are you talking about?”

“Oh shit,” Percy muttered, “Oh gods you don't know, do you?”

“Don't know what?” I replied in frustration.

“Oh um, I don't think I should be the one to tell you. It's really not my place to break that news,”

“You're seriously not going to tell me??” I questioned.

“I'm so sorry Annabeth, but I really think this is something you should find out about on your own.”

“Whatever. Can you at least tell me what this is about?” I asked, desperate for any kind of clue as to what was happening.

“Luke,” Percy replied in disgust, “Listen, just promise me you'll call me if you need someone to talk to, alright.”

“Alright. Bye Seaweed Brain,” I hung up quickly, already rushing over to my computer.

I didn't realize that my fingers were shaking until they were poised over the keyboard typing Luke's name into the search bar.

With a shaky exhale, I pressed the search button. Any remaining breath left my lungs when the news stories came up.

* * *

 Plastered over all of the stories was a photo of Luke on his yacht with his arms wrapped around a very scantily dressed woman, who was most definitely not me.

**Cheating, Scandal, Betrayed** lashed out from every article, bringing tears to my eyes. It wasn't like I was totally infatuated with Luke, but it was a little embarrassing to be betrayed so publicly.

Apparently, This woman was also blonde and they've been on the yacht for a few days. People didn't realize it wasn't me until I posted my video from Hawaii. No wonder Luke hadn't been returning my calls…

I groaned as I realized I would have to answer a ton of paparazzi questions as soon as I returned to California. Wandering around the house, I tried to find Piper. When I did come across her, she was staring at her computer with her hands over her mouth. Sure enough, her screen was on one of the Luke articles.

Wordlessly, she stood and wrapped me in a hug.

“Oh Anna, I'm so sorry “ she soothed, while stroking my hair.

I ignored the tear that slipped from my eye, “Eh, you know I wasn't crazy about him anyways.”

“I know. Still never fun to be cheated on, especially when the paparazzi are far too interested in your love life.”

After a few minutes of silence, I spoke up, “Percy called again.”

Piper pulled back and dragged me over to the couch, where she plopped down next to me. She gestured for me to continue with the story.

“Well he was just calling to see how I was doing. I actually didn't know about it--- that's how I knew to look something up. He insisted that he wouldn't be the one to tell me.”

“Wow, Percy’s a _really_ good guy. I feel like most guys in that position would’ve used that as an excuse to trash talk Luke,” Piper stated.

“Yeah that's a good point,” I began, “though I kind of think Luke would deserve the trash talking.”

Piper sat up suddenly, “You know what you should do?”

“Get drunk,” I muttered

“Yes, that,” Piper continued unfazed, “and call Percy. I bet he'd be willing to trash talk Luke with you, considering the interactions you've seen them have before.”

“Oh that's actually a pretty good idea Piper. But first-- do we have any wine?”

* * *

 A glass of wine  (or a few) later and I finally called Percy back.

“Annabeth, I’m so sorr-” he began, not even saying hello.

“Luke’s a dim-witted cockroach,” I blurted, knowing even in my drunken state that it didn't make sense.

Percy chuckled, “That's a lot milder than I would have put it, but yes, that's true.”

“Ugh I'm such a fool,” I complained before taking another big gulp of wine.

“Wise Girl you are the complete opposite of a fool. Luke's just an asshole. End of story.”

“Fitting that my first chance of a real relationship in years is destroyed basically before it even began. I mean it's my fault, I knew he was trouble as soon as I met him” I sighed.

“Hey there are guys out there who are way better suited for you than Luke. I firmly believe that you are going to find someone who recognizes how incredible you are, and respects and loves you for who exactly who you are.”

Annabeth thought she heard an implied _someone like me_ in that little speech, but that very well could have been the wine talking. Regardless, a soft sob escaped her lips.

“Oh no, are you crying?” Percy asked, a panicked edge to his voice.

“Its just … I’m sure everything you just said is true, but it doesn't make me feel any less _lonely and abandoned_ right now.”

“Annabeth, I will always be here for you. Piper will always be here for you. I know it may not be exactly the same, but we’ll help you through until you find that special someone. And once you meet him, we’ll be there when you want to gush all about him 24/7.”

Annabeth gave a small chuckle, despite the fact that it hurt her heart a little to imagine being with someone else and bragging about them to Percy.

“When you get back, we're going to go out on the town and make you feel better, Okay?”

I frowned, “Is that code word for playing laser tag or something?”

Percy barked out a laugh that instantly made me feel better, “It means whatever you want it to mean, Wise Girl.”

* * *

 3 days and 3 breakup songs later, I was finally flying back to Los Angeles. Piper and I had a serious coaching session before we left on what I was going to say when the paparazzi inevitably will accost me at the airport. We decided that being open about the situation was the best way to go right now. Just had to hope the world would appreciate the honesty.

When the plane touched down, my nerves flared up. It was one thing to practice my speech about Luke in front of Piper, and entirely other thing in front of cameras that will immortalize my every word.

We debarked from the plane and made our way through the airport, stopping to take pictures with fans along the way. Luckily, none of them seemed to be too gossip heavy because no one asked about Luke, or even why I was at the airport.

Finally, Piper and I rounded the corner to the baggage claims, and was met with a mob of flashing cameras. I did my best to channel the brief acting lessons I’d gotten a few years ago, and plastered a smile on my face.

There was too much shouting to hear any coherent question, but I heard bits and pieces:

“Annabeth!....cheated on…..Hawaii...boat….song”

I put a hand in the air to signal that I wanted to talk, and the paparazzi miraculously silenced. They must be really desperate for a good story about this.

“Alright, I’m only going to do this once. I’ll give my story and how I’m doing about it but will answer no further questions. Kapeesh?” I asked, leveling a fierce glare at the reporters.

Most people nodded, but a few grumbled under their breath in frustration. I had a feeling they’d be the ones to try and ask me a question anyways.

“Let me begin by saying Luke and I were never really serious. We went on a few dates, but even by our last date, the spark had fizzled out. By the end, Luke seemed more interested in me for the publicity it brought to his name than for who I am as a person.

So when I heard the news that Luke had ‘cheated’ on me, and I use that term loosely, I wasn’t all that disappointed. The relationship was not one that had long-term potential and he didn’t value me or treat me with the respect that I deserve.

While it was still tough to see such harsh headlines written involving my name, I hold my head high knowing that I did nothing wrong. If anyone should feel ashamed or embarrassed, it is Luke. Though, I wouldn’t know how he’s feeling because I don’t intend on talking with him again anytime soon.

So, I am moving on with my life. I have been continually making progress on my new album, which may or may not feature a few break-up songs inspired by this incident. I’m happy to be back in Los Angeles and will be happy to spend time with my friends again. I hope you all have a nice day, thank you for your time.”

Immediately, the crowd was shouting questions. I put on my sunglasses and strolled over to Piper, ignoring all of the questions with a smirk on my face.

Piper grinned, “Good job, Anna.”

I waited to say anything until we were settled in our car, away from prying eyes and ears.

“Please don’t make me do that again anytime soon”

* * *

 Thankfully, the paparazzi community seemed satisfied with my response to the Luke situation. Not that it really mattered that much what they thought, but I was happy they weren’t spreading vicious rumors about how I responded.

Currently, I was camped out in a coffee shop, wearing my wig disguise from the first time I saw Percy swim. I hadn’t used it in a while, but Piper insisted she had news that had to be shared in person, and was too busy to come to my house to tell me.

So, here I was, sipping my chai latte, glancing around nervously at the patrons of the coffee shop, hoping no one would recognize me. The past week had been exhausting, as I was bombarded with questions about Luke/what was next for me literally every time I went outside. And I still hadn’t had a chance to meet up with Percy since I’d gotten back.

Piper rushed through the door and headed straight for my table, not even bothering to order anything. She gave me a quick side hug before settling in on her side of the table.

“What’s up, Pipes?” I asked, genuinely curious. It was extremely unlike Piper to share news without ordering a coffee first, which is how I knew this was something serious.

“Annabeth, I have amazing news,” Piper breathed, excitement evident in her voice.

“What is it?” I asked on the edge of my seat.

“The Olympic marketing committee wants you to record a song for this year’s games!”

“Are you serious?” I exclaimed, jumping out of my seat, “Like to be played on the intros for events and stuff?”

Piper nodded, “Yeah, this is a huge opportunity! Plus there’s a slight possibility you’d even get to perform it live too!”

“Wow. Piper this is...this is incredible. This is going to have such an amazing impact on my career. Oh jeez I need to tell Percy, he’s going to be so excited! How’d you manage to pull this off?”

“Well about that, Percy already knows about this,” Piper explained, with a mischievous grin.

“Wait you told him first. That’s not fair!”

“No, I didn’t tell him,” Piper paused for dramatic effect.

I stared back at her, confused.

“It was his idea.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY updated again. Thanks to everyone who was patient and to all of the amazing commenters who inspired me to keep going :) Just got through a busy time in my life so hoping to have the final chapter (yes, only one more!) up soon!

The door opened and I practically tackled the raven-haired swimmer on the other side of it. To his credit, Percy managed to keep us upright and let out a chuckle. 

“I take it Piper told you the good news,” he pulled out of the hug.  

“How'd you manage to pull it off? Also why me of all artists you could've promoted?” 

Percy looked at me, disappointed, “C’mon Annabeth, you shouldn't even have to ask that question. You're one of the most talented artists of this generation. Plus I knew you were passionate enough about it that this would be meaningful to you.” 

I nodded, trying to soak up the confidence his words inspired, “Okay, But that still doesn't explain  _ how _ you managed this.” 

“Lets just say I've got some relatives in high places on the Olympic Council and I called in an favor.” 

Another  _ why  _ was on the tip of my tongue, but I wasn't sure that was an area of conversation we should delve into. 

“I don't even know what to say. I don't think I can ever properly thank you enough, Seaweed Brain.”

Percy just waved it off, “Selfishly, I just want a bad-ass Olympics song from my favorite pump-up artist.” 

I gave him a playful shove on the shoulder, But his words warmed me straight down to my toes.  “So you got any brilliant ideas yet?” he asked

I rolled my eyes, “Percy I just found out about it 3 hours ago…” 

“So you already have 2 ideas, then?” 

“5….” I mutterred

* * *

The Olympics were just over 2 months away, meaning Percy and I were seeing steadily less of each other as his training intensified. 

I had just about finished writing my song -- all that remained was to record it. Percy was the first person I showed it to, and he, of course, could not stop gushing about it. I figured it was just exaggeration, but when I showed it to Piper, she echoed everything he had to say. Damn, I must've done something right. 

I still hadn't heard from the Olympic Committee about whether I'd be performing it at the games.  Piper promised me she’d organize a performance stateside at a watch party if they “stupidly pass up on brilliance.” 

Despite all the turmoil of the last few months (e.g. The Luke fiasco), I was doing surprisingly well. I had easily written enough songs for my next album, and the rush it gave me kept inspiring me to write more. After talking it over with Piper, we decided I might be able to sell a few of my songs to other artists.  The thought of a legendary artist performing something I wrote is almost too much for me to handle. 

After sifting through the book of songs I’d written, Piper and I had settled on what should be my next single. There was no accompanying music yet, so I was keeping myself plenty busy composing that. I only had a few weeks to pull everything together for it, because Piper wanted to release the single during the Olympics. The hope is that my Olympic song will be played a lot during the first week, drawing attention to my name. Hopefully curiosity will draw people to the new song. 

Even though I am very confident in my songwriting abilities, this song in particular has got me feeling a bit nervous. It’s, uh, the song that I wrote when I watched Percy swimming and there is a  _ very  _ obvious line about green eyes that I’m sure is going to cause more than a few rumours. More than anything, I’m nervous about the subject of the song hearing it. We all remember how the song I wrote about him backfired last time….

* * *

I remember exactly where I was when I heard the news. Piper called me and told me I should sit down, which I did not do because Piper is notoriously overdramatic. However, when she told me, I did nearly drop my phone into the pot of boiling water on the stove. Thankfully I didn't, because Percy called me minutes later. 

“Hello?” I answered cautiously. 

“Meet me at the Olympic training facility pool as soon as you can.” 

The line clicked dead before I had a chance to respond. Well, I guess that wasn't up for debate.

Embarrassingly quick, I gathered my belongings and threw them into a purse. I didn't even look in the mirror as I rushed out of my house wearing a pair of leggings and a bulky sweatshirt from high school. 

I'm not sure how I managed, but I drove the speed limit the entire way there. It took about 20 minutes, but I finally pulled into the deserted parking lot. I spotted Percy’s Prius and drove over to it. Surprisingly, when I got out, I realized it was a very much devoid of Percy. 

I had absolutely no idea where I was supposed to find that Seaweed Brain. I spun on my heels in frustration when I noticed an open door to one of the buildings, emitting a soft blue glow.Hesitantly, I headed towards it, hoping this wasn't a trap or something. I pushed it open a bit further and saw him sitting on the edge of the pool, feet dangling over the edge. The room was cast with an eerie glow from the lights of the pool. 

Silently, I walked over to him. I sat down and began unlacing my sneakers. I let out a soft yelp at the chill of the water when my feet made contact. 

Percy snorted beside me, and finally turned to me. I was surprised to see that his eyes shone with mirth, rather than the sadness I expected. Somehow his eyes seemed even greener in the glow of the pool. 

“Hey Wise Girl,” he nudged my shoulders, “Thanks for coming” 

“Anytime, Seaweed Brain. So you want to talk about it?” 

“Eh there's not much to talk about. Things weren't working well between Rachel and I so I broke it off.”

I hadn't known he was the one to end it. When Piper told me the news, I assumed Rachel had broken it off -- probably in part due to the time he was spending with me. To hear that he broke it off himself, Well, that brought a little hope to life in my chest.

“Well I'm sorry regardless. It's always hard, especially when the paparazzi has a vested interest in every detail of your love life.” 

He shook his head, “Yeah I've somehow managed to avoid them so far but I doubt my luck will last.” 

I nod my head in understanding, “Have you thought about what you'll say?” 

“Yeah, the truth,” he began with a small smirk, “That things weren't working well between Rachel and I. And that…I've fallen for someone else.” 

My heart simultaneously soared and plummeted. Hope filled my veins that it could be me, but dread filled my heart that I could’ve been here this whole time and he still fell for someone else.  

“Oh,” I said in an embarrassingly small voice. 

Percy looked at me questioningly, so I spoke up again quickly, “I mean, that's great! I'm sure someone in your position meets a ton of incredible people.”

He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, “Uh, yeah I suppose.” 

After that moment of awkwardness, the night passed quickly - A blur of friendly banter, laughter, and me getting pushed into the pool. 

Everything was back to normal - whether I liked it or not.

* * *

The next day, I awoke to thousands of Twitter notifications. Groggily, I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and tried to think of whether or not Piper and I had anything planned to be released overnight. 

I couldn't think of anything, so I checked out a few of the tweets. Oh yeah. Percy broke up with Rachel last night. I was naive to think I wouldn't get dragged into this news story. 

One of the first tweets I actually clicked into had a video. It appeared Percy had finally been ambushed by the paparazzi on his way into practice this morning. 

The video clip was short - a reporter asking Percy what happened. Percy replying like he said he would, that things weren't working and that there was someone else who he had feelings for. 

“Who is it?” another reporter asked desperately. 

Percy laughed, a beautiful sound, “I haven't even told her yet, I'm not going to tell you first.” 

“Well, is it someone we know?” the relentless reporter questioned.

“Yeah, I'd say so,” he said, whipping off his sunglasses and giving a quick wink before pushing through the doors. 

Most of the tweets had tagged me saying something along the lines of “finally Percabeth time???” Or “@AnnabethChase is it you????”

To be honest, I had considered that it could be me he was talking about - particularly with his, ah, late night confession after that charity banquet. However, I figured if it had been me, he probably would've made a move last night. I mean, we were alone, away from any prying eyes or ears. The topic even came up - It would have been a perfect transition. 

Then again, he had literally  _ just _ broken up with Rachel. Even though he was the one to end it, I’m sure it was a difficult time for him -- they had dated for a long time (or at least it felt like forever to me). 

Interestingly, I decided to search his name on Twitter and saw equally as many tweets tagging supermodel Calypso Atlas. Wait what? I'd never even heard her name come up before. I clicked onto her timeline, only to see her first tweet, also from this morning. 

**@SwimmerPercy dinner Friday? ;)**

My heart plunged. Maybe this was who he had been talking about. And there's no WAY I can compete with her. She's gorgeous - in that seemingly effortless way that only models can pull off. 

The voice of reason in my head tried to point out that it was extremely unlikely Percy had met someone else and just failed to mention this fact to me. I navigated to Percy’s timeline, and was immediately comforted by the fact that there were no new tweets in the last 48 hours.

* * *

Well it was Friday night, and Percy had been radio silent this week. He never replied to the tweet, and the paparazzi were having a field day. Flipping through the TV, I noticed that Entertainment Tonight actually had a whole segment trying to guess where Percy and Calypso would be going on their date tonight. 

I pushed the power button more forcefully than I had to. My stomach was twisting at the thought of Percy on a date with Calypso. Even to myself, it was obvious that this was jealousy in its purest form. 

By 6:30, I was practically losing my mind. I pulled out my guitar, trying to solidify the chords of my next single, Sparks Fly - and hoping to distract myself in the process. 

The doorbell rung. Confused, I stood and slowly started to the door. I was most definitely not expecting anyone to stop by tonight, but maybe Piper could sense my distress and came to save the day with some wine and ice cream.

I whipped open the door and felt all the breath leave my lungs as I took in Percy Jackson, in all his glory, standing on the other side. He gave me his signature lopsided grin as he held up a bag which appeared to be filled with takeout from my favorite Thai restaurant. 

“Hope you haven't eaten yet?” he tried to state, but it came out as more of a question. 

Unable to find words in the midst of my surprise, I simply shook my head and stepped aside to let him in. He shot me another small grin as he walked in and headed straight for the kitchen. 

Gathering my wits, I finally shut the door and followed him. He was unpacking the food and dishing it out onto plates. It was this intimate moment that made me realize just how close we’d gotten over the past few months. Even Piper didn't know where my plates were.  

“I don't mean to sound rude, because this is a very pleasant surprise, But, uh, didn't you have dinner plans for tonight?” I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me. 

“What are you talking about?” he asked with a laugh, handing me my plate and a glass of wine. 

“C’mon, the whole Twitter thing earlier in the week? You know, when a supermodel casually asked you out to dinner?” 

“Oh that Calypso thing?” he questioned. 

I nodded my head and leveled him with a look that said ‘well duh’ 

To my surprise he laughed again, “Oh yeah, I couldn’t believe that actually happened. I’m not interested.”

“Really? I thought it was a universal law that guys were always attracted to supermodels,” I joked.

He rolled his eyes at me, “Gods no. Especially when it’s someone who has literally never spoken a word to me before. Oh she also never actually contacted me besides the tweet, so I figured it was just for publicity and decided it didn’t even warrant a response.  It’s like she saw this solely as an opportunity to get some press coverage for herself.” 

“That’s terrible. I figured you two already knew each other…” I trailed off, hoping he would catch my hidden meaning that I thought she was the ‘other woman’ he’d fallen for. 

“Hell no. And after this little stunt, I don’t think I’d want to know her either.” 

I smiled into my food. As I was relishing how delicious this Pad Thai was, I realized this was probably  _ very  _ against Percy’s diet protocol. Glancing up, I saw him putting his phone down on the table with a slight grin, then immediately take a huge bite. 

“Wait a second, how are you even allowed to eat this right now?”

“Lucky for you, Friday nights are my cheat nights,” he took another huge bite, “and lucky for me, your favorite restaurant is incredible. 

Later that night, after he left, I noticed that Percy had finally broken his silence on social media. There, sitting (not so) innocently on my Instagram feed, was a candid picture of me smiling down at my food. I have no recollection of him taking the picture, but the caption was what really left me breathless:  _ The best Friday night dinner plans involve Pad Thai and @TheAnnabethChase.  _

He didn’t actually tag her, but it was pretty clear that fans were on the same page I was about who this message was really intended for, as I scrolled down and saw Calypso’s account tagged numerous times. Guess she finally got her answer...

* * *

Throughout the next week, I barely heard from Percy. I tried not to take it personally, as the Olympics were now looming just over a month away. Thanks to his Instagram post last weekend, leaving the house was hell for me, as the paparazzi were relentlessly trying to prove that something was going on between us. 

Unfortunately, I had to put up with them earlier today, because the band and I finally recorded  _ Sparks Fly _ this morning. It was almost as smooth as  _ Enchanted _ was, and the band members all reassured me that they loved the song throughout the session.

Now it was in the hands of my faithful editors, but I also asked for a copy for myself. So here I was,having a wild Thursday night, sitting by myself, editing the recording. The fun and exciting life of a Hollywood starlet. 

My phone rang suddenly, and I smiled when I saw Percy’s name on the caller ID. 

“Hello there my little Olympian, how goes the training?” I greeted. 

“My coach is charging ahead at full speed. It’s all I do, besides sleep and eat, but I’m sure it’ll be worth it in a few week. Anyways, I’m sorry I've been completely MIA this week.”

“Oh, you don't have to apologize. I completely understand. How are you feeling about it? Nervous?” I asked jokingly, figuring he was heading into these games cocky and confident, considering his performance 3 years ago. 

“A bit, yeah,” he let out a breathy chuckle, “Actually petrified might be the better word.”

“Really?” I asked incredulously, having not expected that response.

“I know I'm ready and will do just fine, It's just that everyone has such high expectations of me this time around. They're predicting I'll win gold in every race. Obviously, I hope I'll be able to do that, but it's just a high standard that even a silver would feel like a failure.” 

“Percy, you’re competing at the  _ Olympics _ . Even just making it that far is more success than most people will ever achieve in their lifetimes,” I tried to assure him. 

“Yeah, it’s just when you pour your whole life into the sport, anything other than perfection can feel like a letdown,” he stated candidly. 

“I understand. The highest stages have the highest stakes,” I paused for a moment, “I know I may not be able to make you feel any better about it, but just know that all of the training you’ve put in will pay off. You shocked the world at the last games, and now everyone knows how talented you are. Their predictions of your success aren’t based on nothing. And if you don’t sweep gold? Well you still trained your butt off and will be one of a handful of people from around the  _ world  _ to represent your country. And I know you’ll do the best you can.” 

I heard Percy let out a relieved breath on the other end of the line. I smiled to myself, happy I was maybe able to help somewhat. On a whim, I decided to add on one more sentiment. 

“Just one more thing: know that I will be watching every single second of your events and cheering you on louder than I’ve ever cheered on anyone before. And no matter how any of it ends up, I will not ever properly be able to express how proud of you I am.” 

The seconds of silence that followed felt like hours to me, after such a vulnerable comment. Finally Percy voice called quietly, almost inaudibly from the other side of the line. 

“Come with me.” 

“What- “ I started to ask, but, surprisingly, my doorbell rang. Really, someone had to stop by _ now _ of all times?

“Percy hang on a second,” I quickly said before rushing to open my door. My mind was still reeling and trying to process if I heard Percy correctly as I opened the door. 

“Come with me to Paris,” Percy said, standing on the other side of the door, phone still pressed to his ear. 

  
  



	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok first off: I'M SO SORRY FOR HOW LONG THIS TOOK TO UPDATE. Major shoutout to everyone encouraging me to keep going!
> 
> The bright side: I started writing and I had so much more in mind than I initially thought. So this chapter is nearly 8000 words long, AND I'll be posting one more chapter and an epilogue! 
> 
> And I promise I will be better about updating! I have actually almost completely written these next two parts so they should be up in the coming few weeks! 
> 
> Thanks again for everyone who has stuck with this story. Literally another Olympics has happened and I'm still not done with it, so it means a lot to me that people are still interested! 
> 
> Enjoy the XL chapter!

_“What? Why?” I asked Percy, as I clicked end on our call, since he was now standing in front of me._

_“You know why, Wise Girl.”_

_I felt like I was melting under the intensity of his gaze. He stepped imperceptibly closer and placed his hands on my waist. My heart was officially in overdrive now._

_“Um,” I gulped, “because I’m a good luck charm?”_

_“Among other things,” he whispered, leaning forward to capture my lips with his._

_I let out an involuntary sigh of relief. His lips felt like coming home._

_“I love you,” he breathed, “I want you by my side as I make history.”_

_“Are you sure?” I questioned, hardly believing my luck._

_“I’ve never been so sure about anything in my life.”_

_He tilted his head forward so our foreheads were resting against each other._

_“Okay,” I replied, barely able to contain my smile._

_Our lips collided again, and I parted mine in order to deepen the kiss. It honestly felt like a dream as he pushed his body impossibly closer to mine..._

“Annabeth, wake up,” Piper nudged my elbow. Blearily, I glanced around, realizing I was, in fact, not in my house at all.

 _Oh._ I must’ve been dreaming.

Despite how much my dream self wished it was true, Percy had not actually confessed any feelings to me. He _had_ come to my apartment to invite me to the Olympics, but it was only because he had extra tickets that were supposed to be for Rachel and he didn’t want them to go to waste.

“You ready for this?” Piper asked with a knowing grin.

Nodding, I opened my mouth to respond, but was interrupted by a voice over the loudspeaker, “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for flying with Air France. Welcome to Paris.”

* * *

 Piper shuffled restlessly in her seat. The ceremony was due to start any minute. It had taken us a good hour just to get to our seats because I got stopped every 5 steps for a picture or autograph.  Unfortunately, the producers wanted to be able to pan to me during the broadcast, so I couldn't watch under the radar in a disguise.

To my surprise, the music playing shifted to a _very_ familiar song.

Piper nudged me, glowing, “it's your song!”

I almost couldn't breathe, so I just nodded, eyes wide with excitement.

 _“Baby, let the games begin. Let the games begin,”_ rang through the speakers and echoed throughout the crowd [ **AN: this is Ready For It by Taylor Swift]**

I'd heard people sing along to my songs at concerts, but never before when it was at an event that wasn't explicitly filled with my fans. It was otherworldly. I know that's an exaggeration, but I'm not sure I can describe it any other way.

When the song should've ended, they kept repeating “let the games begin” in an almost remix fashion. I was confused until fireworks blossomed overhead, signaling the start of the ceremony.

A booming announcer came on, “Welcome to the 2020 Summer Olympic Games!”

Holy shit they just used my song as an intro to the opening ceremony of the _fucking Olympics_. I grabbed Piper’s knee and she patted my knee while giving me a simply beaming smile.

Then she wrapped her arm around me in a side hug, “I'm proud of you.”

Leaning my head on her shoulder, I whispered, “thank you. For everything you've done. I wouldn't be here without you.”

“It’s almost like it's my job to make sure you succeed,” she replied sarcastically.

We sat in comfortable silence, leaning against each other as the rest of the opening ceremony unfolded.

Finally, they began to announce the countries. By the time the massive cohort of Russian athletes came out [ **AN: this is a wholesome AU where there was no massive doping scheme]** I was jittery with excitement at seeing Team USA. Well more specifically one Team USA participant.

Despite being hosted in France, the applause when the announcer said “United States of America” was deafening. I tried to stand taller to scan the athletes. Considering Percy was one of the more famous competitors, I figured they'd place him near the front of the group.

As it turns out, the cameraman found him first, as Piper nudged me and pointed to the big screen. My breath caught in my throat as the camera zoomed in on his wide smile, complete with irresistible dimples and everything.

He seriously looked sinfully attractive in the beret and ascot that was the Team USA uniform. I'm absolutely positive he was very uncomfortable with the uniform choice, based on the fact that his usual wardrobe consisted of ripped jeans and flannel shirts. Yet somehow, in a way only Percy can pull off, his beaming smile overpowered any discomfort on his face.

He spin around in place, and I thought it was just because he was in awe of the arena. But then he placed his hand over his eyes and began squinting into the audience, as if looking for someone.

“Hey Anna, I think your boyfriend is looking for you…” Piper teased.

Deciding to throw caution to the wind, I stood up and began waving my arms trying to catch his attention. After a few  (slightly embarrassing) moments, he finally turned towards me. Even from here, I could see the blinding smile that lit up his face and it warmed me down to my toes.

Like a little kid he began jumping around. Suddenly I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, and figured I'd just ignore it. This was way more important than any call.

But then I noticed Percy was on his phone and pointing to his ear. I fished my phone out of my pocket in a hurry and answered with a breathless hello.

“Hey,” Percy greeted breathlessly on the other end of the line, “what’s up? Anything interesting?”

I stifled a laugh, “Eh just watching some boring ceremony. They’re showing this guy who looks like a total Seaweed Brain on the screen right now....I can’t imagine why.”

“Perhaps it's his dashing good looks,” he said before turning towards the closest camera and wiggling his eyebrows, eliciting a laugh from the stadium.

“Perhaps…” I teased in an uncharacteristically flirty voice, which earned a curious look from Piper

Through the line, I heard one of his teammates shout his name. They appeared to be waving him over.

“Go. Enjoy yourself. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I told him, wanting him to fully enjoy the ceremony.

“Annabeth, I lo…” his sentence was interrupted by one of his teammates screaming into the phone, causing me to jerk the phone away from my ear.

Returning the phone to my ear, I asked “What was that? I didn’t remotely hear what you said.”

“Nothing.Nevermind. Thank you so much for coming. You have no idea how much it means to me.”

“Oh c’mon Percy. You know there’s no place I’d rather be right now.”

“I’ll text you tonight,” he said before hanging up. The camera panned back towards him now that he was off the phone. He was still smiling down at it, but soon enough, someone called his name and he ran over, resuming his childish demeanor from before the call.

Throughout the ceremony, they frequently panned to him. Every time he would wiggle his eyebrows or make some silly face. He was such a charmer at these things.

It didn’t fail to escape my notice that almost every time they panned to him, they panned to me immediately after. I decided to have fun with the less-than-subtle cameramen and mock whatever Percy had done.

Later in the night, Percy seemed to have caught on to my little game. The camera panned to him yet again (how was he not sick of this yet?) and he blew a kiss with a wink. Rather than copy him this time, I decided to catch the kiss and plant on my cheek, with a wink of my own.

The crowd cheered, despite the slightly boring artistic performance happening now. When the camera panned back to Percy, I relished in the blush that dusted his cheeks and his shy smile. It was a good start to the Games.

* * *

The IOC had invited every artist who recorded a song for the Olympics to perform at the post-ceremony party. My performance went off without a hitch, even though it went by in a flash. As high energy as it was, it’s hard to fully immerse yourself in a performance when it only lasts 4 minutes. Still, the crowd seemed to be loving everyone that was on the stage.

They had scheduled me early in the night, so luckily I had some time to relax and enjoy. It was already nearing 11 p.m., but Piper insisted that we order another drink.

“C’mon Annabeth, you’re at the fucking Olympics! Live it up a little! You know how many people from around the world wish they were at this party right now.”

“Yeah, but Percy’s first qualifying heat is so early in the morning tomorrow. And you _know_ the cameras will be all over me, I don’t want to look like a hungover mess.”

“Fair point,” Piper said, pushing me another drink anyways.

With a roll of my eyes I accepted, “my last one.”

“Fine fine. Hey I have to run to the bathroom, I’ll be right back,”

Piper strode off and immediately several guys seemed to lurk closer. I decided to give off a vibe of ‘I’m really not interested’ and pull out my phone. Unlocking it, I was surprised to see a few texts from Percy.

**[9:43 p.m.] Can we meet tonight or tomorrow morning? I’d really like to see you before my first race**

**[10:07 p.m.] Everything is fine, btw. Just a little nervous and you always seem to know how to make me feel better**

**[10:56 p.m.] Guess you’re probs busy with that after-party and stuff. Wish I was there w/u**

**[10:59 p.m.] Well I’m off to sleep now, if you want to meet up tomorrow morning I’ll be walking to the pool around 5:45 a.m. (yikes!)**

And from just a moment ago,

**[11:03 p.m.] Goodnight Wise Girl, sweet dreams.**

I scrambled with my phone, willing my slightly drunk hands to type something coherent.

 **[11:04 p.m.]** **_I’ll be there. Sleep tight Seaweed Brain…dream of some gold medals for me :)_ **

I wasn’t expecting a response, considering he’d said he gone to bed. Just as Piper came back, however, my phone buzzed. Embarrassingly fast, I picked it up, smiling as I read.

**[11:05 p.m.] Just for you ;) Can’t wait to see you**

“Aw look at that smile. Is your boyfriend texting you before his big day?” Piper teased, pinching my cheek.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” I muttered unconvincingly, cheeks flaming.

Piper snorted, “Yet. And I noticed you didn’t deny it is Mr. Jackson you are talking to.”

I ruffled a hand through my hair and took a long swig of my drink.

“What’s that Kelp Head want?”

I fidgeted with my glass, “Uh, he wants to meet me tomorrow.”

“Ooh la la. You two going on a date?” Piper nudged her elbow against mine.

“Hardly,” I snorted, “We’re meeting at 5:45 in the morning”

Piper nearly spat out her drink, “Crikey that’s early. You must really love that boy, Anna.”

She had no idea.

* * *

 Thank the gods that my hotel room had a Keurig. It took several cups of coffee to get me presentable and walking to the Olympic village by 5:30 a.m. When I arrived, Percy was waiting for me - all jittery and unable to stand still.

His whole face lit up as I approached, “Annabeth hey.”

I was about to step beside him and fall into stride, but he wrapped his lanky arms around me instead. Letting out a chuckle, I returned his embrace, smelling Percy’s signature cologne of chlorine. Tucked away in his arms, it was hard to believe this man was about to go out and break Olympic records. This just felt so...normal.

“As much as I’m enjoying this, I really should get going,” Percy whispered into my hair, sending shivers down my spine. He stepped back, holding onto my shoulders for just a moment too long, before strolling away.

“You know, you really are the greatest for getting up this early to just walk with me.”

“I figured it’d be my only chance to talk to you, you busy big-shot Olympian,” I replied, bumping my shoulder against his.

He rubbed the back of his neck, “Yeah sorry I haven’t even been able to see you since you got here. And probably not a ton this next week either. But next week I'm all yours.”

“I’m looking forward to that,” I replied warmly, “ and honestly Percy, you don’t even worry about me. You just focus on swimming. I’ll keep myself busy.”

Percy let out a shaky breath, “Oh gods. It’s starting isn’t it? I’m really going to do this.”

I pulled him to a stop, “Yes you are. And you can. You’ve been training for this for years and there is no one more prepared than you. No one more talented than you. No one more deserving than you. No matter how you perform, you're going to make me, your mom, Grover, and everyone watching in the states proud. So go get ‘em tiger.”

At the end of my speech, I gave him a light, joking punch on the shoulder. He grabbed my hand and gave it a small squeeze

“Thanks Wise Girl, I don't know what I'd do without you.”

I rolled my eyes, “Probably kick ass and win gold anyways”

By now we had arrived at the pool. Percy paused outside the door, And turned to me, rocking on his heels.

“So I’ll see you there this afternoon?” he asked with a hopeful lilt to his voice.

“Actually I was thinking of blowing off your heat and checking out table tennis….” I trailed off

Percy grinned, pushing through the door to the pool facility.

_As if I didn’t fly halfway across the world to watch you swim._

* * *

Thankfully, Percy’s race wasn't until the early evening, which gave me plenty of time to take a nice, long nap before it. Piper had hired a local stylist to do my hair and makeup for the night. It was clear that my being at Percy’s race was going to spark loads of rumors, so we figured I might as well look nice.

I had suggested the disguise again, but Piper pointed out that a random woman sitting near Percy’s mother would raise far more questions than Annabeth Chase, noted friend of Percy, would.

That's right, today I would meet the infamous Sally Jackson. Percy was so close to his mother, I was honored to finally have the chance to meet her.

And nervous. Did I mention I was nervous?

Sally was clearly the most important person in Percy’s life. What if she didn't like me? What if I didn't like her?

 _Impossible,_ Percy had told me earlier, _You two are going to love each other. Trust me - I know my mom and she is going to be simply enraptured with you._

My stylist took me out of my thoughts when she announced that she was finished. I took a glance in the mirror and praised her for knowing exactly the look I was going for - understated, yet put together.

With that, Piper and I (and a few security guards) hopped in a car that would take us to a back entrance of the swimming pavilion. This would allow me to avoid the crowds at least somewhat. Apparently it was also where all family/friends of the athletes entered because of how close it was to the designated seats.

After passing through security, an usher guided us to our seats. Sally Jackson was already seated, holding hands with someone who I assumed to be Paul, based on Percy’s stories. Piper nudged me to go first into the aisle.

I took a deep breath in and plastered a nervous smile on my face. When Sally saw me coming, her face lit up with a glowing smile.

So that's where Percy gets it from.

Suddenly my nervous smile was replaced with a genuine one, feeling welcome already without even having spoken to her yet.  She stood and reached her arms out for a hug.

“Annabeth,” she greeted as I stepped into her arms, “It's so great to finally meet you dear.”

“It's great to meet you too. I've heard so much about you from Percy.”

She gave me a knowing look as she pulled away, “I could say the same about you.”

We all chucked at that, including Paul and Piper. I settled into my seat, and Paul reached across Sally to introduce himself.

“I'm a big fan,” he whispered, earning another round of laughter.

Sally nudged my arm and pointed at something, “Apparently so is my son.”

My gaze followed her arm and saw Percy emerge from the locker rooms for initial stretching. Sure enough, he had on a big pair of headphones and was very animatedly singing along.

A smile involuntarily came over my face. I turned back to Sally, who was giving me a knowing look. I gave her a sheepish smile and turned back to watch warmups.

Before long, they were introducing the athletes. The crowd went wild when Percy’s name was called. Sally and Paul shared a proud look. I too was practically overflowing with pride. I knew Percy was an incredible swimmer, but something about seeing him here on the Olympic stage…..

They called for the athletes to set up on the blocks and by now my heart was racing. Nervously, I grabbed on to Pipers arm. I had no idea how Percy can handle his nerves - I could barely breath.

The buzzer signalling the start of the race went off and Percy dove gracefully into the water. It was hard to tell if anyone was really in the lead for a while because all the swimmers were in a tight pack. However, after the second turn, Percy started to pull into a clear lead.

Even though there were still two pool lengths of race yet, the crowd started cheering in anticipation of Percy’s first win (even if this was only a qualifying heat). I could only imagine the lavish praise the announcers were giving him in the US coverage right now.

As he approached the final part of the pool, I stood, along with the majority of the stadium, and went crazy when he touched the wall a few seconds ahead of the other competitors.

Without even checking the scoreboard, he emerged from the water and raised his fist. He floated over to the swimmers in the neighboring lanes and shook hands with them, before climbing out of the pool.

He grabbed a towel and started drying off. His hair was thoroughly mussed up at the moment, which combined with his half-nakedness, was making me feel warm in the pit of my stomach. Sally grabbed my arm and I blushed, embarrassed of thinking such thoughts while sitting next to his mother.

“That seemed like a good sign for how the rest of the games will go!” I exclaimed, pulling my eyes away from Percy.

“Yes, and Percy told me he wasn't going to go 100% in these qualifying heats so that he could save his energy for the medal rounds.”

I gaped at her, “That wasn't even him at maximum effort??”

Sally chuckled, “No. But the competition is going to get exponentially more intense from here on out….”

“He can do it. I believe in that Seaweed Brain.”

Sally gave me a strange look, but said nothing about the nickname. Percy looked towards us and gave an excited wave. Both Sally and I waved back, but as we did, she leaned over to me and whispered something that caused me to blush yet again.

“You know, he's never looked that excited when waving to me before…”

* * *

The next two days were filled with more qualifying rounds, of which Percy won each and every single one. Sally and I were getting along great - I had even managed to coax out embarrassing baby Percy stories while we waited between heats. With Sally, I began to feel the warmth and caring mother's have for their children, something I’d personally never experienced, since my mother was never involved in my life.

The only time I’d heard from my mother was a few years back, after I won my first Grammy. She’d showed up randomly at my door, address courtesy of my father, who didn't warn me she was coming. Without even coming inside, she told me my album was pretty good, but I could consider less falsettos.  

But with Sally, I could feel the constant love and support she provided Percy. For not the first time since I met Percy, I found myself wishing I had grown up with such a supportive role model. I had no doubt that Sally was a large reason why Percy had been able to make it this far.

His first medal race was on Wednesday. He got a rest day today, but from tomorrow on, he would likely be in at least 2 medal races a day until Saturday, when the swimming races wrapped up.

I figured his coach would have him swimming round the clock today, so I was surprised when I saw his name on my caller ID around 9 a.m.

“Hey Seaweed Brain. Shouldn't you be in a pool right now?”

He chuckled at the greeting, “Its my rest day. There's nothing that practice could do for me this close - it's not like I can change my form at this point. My coach ordered me to have a day of rest and relaxation.”

“Is that so?” I asked, skeptical.

“I swear, Wise Girl. So I was wondering if you wanted to rest and relax with me?”

My heart started beating faster, “What did you have in mind?”

“Well, uh, I've actually never been to Paris. And I was hoping someone who has could show me around and whatnot?”

“That doesn't sound very relaxing. Sounds like a lot of walking to me,” I teased.

“Oh um yeah. You're probably right. It was just a thought. We could do something else too…”

“Percy I'd love to show you around Paris. I'll have our driver take us so we can keep the walking to a minimum. Wouldn't want to tire out those swimming legs,”

“Really?” he asked, sounding like a kid in a candy shop being told he could buy whatever he'd like.

“Yes. Now how much time do we have. What time do you need to be back today?” I asked.

“Um, probably no later than 8. But, uh, since I'm on my competitor diet, I need to be at the Olympic Village for Lunch and Dinner so I can eat right to prepare for tomorrow.”

“Okay I'll pick you up in 30 minutes. We'll check out the Eiffel Tower this morning, and the Louvre this afternoon. You have something that'll disguise you? Non-Olympic clothes?”

“Um yeah,” he said, sounding confused, “should I wear those?”

“Percy we’re going to some of the biggest tourist destinations in the world today. Unless you feel like being mobbed by fans all day long, you should wear some kind of disguise.”

He chuckled, “Being mobbed wouldn't be very relaxing I suppose…”

* * *

About a half an hour later, my driver pulled up outside of the Olympic Village. After a few moments, Percy stepped forward and I did a double take.

He was wearing a _fake mustache._

I'll give it to him, he really didn't look like himself in the slightest. His wild hair was tucked underneath a New York Mets baseball cap. He was wearing a pair of khakis, some Vans, and a very old looking Brooklyn Nets sweatshirt.

“I barely even recognized you Seaweed Brain,” I greeted as he stepped into the car, “nice sweatshirt, by the way.”

“Thanks” he grinned at me.

We fell into a comfortable silence, but I was brimming with anticipation about addressing the elephant in the room.

“So that's quite the mustache….” I began, unable to finish because I burst into laughter.

To my surprise, Percy began laughing beside me.

“Isn't it just the worst?” he asked in between laughs, “One of my teammates uses it when he goes out with disguises and assured me it would work like a charm.”

“I sure hope so. I can barely look at you without giggling.”

“Is that such a bad thing?” he questioned, wiggling his eyebrows.

I rolled my eyes, “I'm laughing at you, not with you Seaweed Brain.”

By now, we were driving through the heart of Paris. I could practically feel my eyes getting all starry as I admired the architecture.

Along the way, I spouted out random facts about Paris. Percy, bless his heart, was listening to me and actually looked interested in what i was saying. The look of adoration in his eyes was one that I've never seen directed at me before.

For a few moments, we stared into each other's eyes and I thought for sure we were about to have ‘a moment.’ We were broken out of our reverie by my driver announcing that we had arrived at the Eiffel Tower.

After crawling out of the car, Percy leaned down close to my ear and whispered, “You know, black hair looks nice on you, Wise Girl. Maybe you should dye your hair.”

I gave him a light shove on the shoulder, hoping he wouldn't notice my blush,  “Oh shut up.”

We stepped into the line to buy tickets, since this was so last minute that we couldn't buy them online ahead of time. It was so unlike me to do a spontaneous day trip in a foreign country, but something about having Percy by my side made it feel natural.

“I'm just kidding,” Percy broke me out of my thoughts, “I love your natural hair.”

Just when my blush had gone, the sincerity in his voice brought it back in full force.

“Thanks,” I responded quietly, unsure if he felt the sudden tension between us too.

A few more small talk filled minutes passed before we were finally called up to the ticket window. Percy reached for his wallet but I waved him off.

“Please, I'm the tour guide today, I'll pay for your tickets.”

The smile I got in return was blinding. We decided to opt for the elevator since we didn't want to strain Percy’s legs before his medal races. As the group of tourists shuffled into the elevator, Percy placed his hand on the small of my back.

It probably looked like a very small gesture to an outsider, but for me, it sent my heart into overdrive. Even the smallest touch sent shivers down my spine, And I found myself imaging what a kiss with him would be like….What a night with him would be like….

A child started crying in the elevator, snapping me out of my embarrassing reverie. I glanced at Percy, blush already burning on my cheeks. He returned my gaze with a soft grin. Before long, the elevator dinged and we all excitedly filed out.

Without a second thought, I dragged him around to the back side of the tower, wanting to separate myself from the crowd that just got off the elevator. Finally, I found a spot where we could gaze out at Paris, and pulled him towards it.

He whistled lowly, “That’s a view, alright.”

I pointed out a few of the major buildings and architectural sites, like the Arc de Triomphe, since we were not going to have time to see remotely close to all of it. Once again, his eyes were sparkling with mirth as I spouted random architecture facts. I decided not to ask about it, wanting to enjoy the beautiful views without additional teasing.

Just as he was pointing to something in the distance, someone tapped him on the shoulder. We turned around, only to be faced with a group of girls who looked to be about college age.

“Hi,” the one greeted shyly as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

My mind went into overdrive, thinking surely she had seen through our disguises. If our covers were blown on the top of the Eiffel Tower, we didn’t exactly have an easy escape route from fans/paparazzi. It was going to be a long way down. Percy shot me a nervous glance, and I could tell he was thinking the same thing.

“Could you take a picture for us?”

I let out a sigh, as Percy let out a breathy chuckle.

“Of course. Just right over here?” He asked, grabbing a camera from one of the other girls.

After taking a couple pictures, he handed the camera back and gave a small wave.

“Would you like us to take a picture of you two?” One of them politely offered.

I opened my mouth to decline, but Percy beat me to speaking, “That would be lovely.”

With a breathtaking grin, he turned towards me. How could I refuse?

I was hesitant to hand over my phone to complete strangers, but Percy pulled his out immediately, making the good call to open his phone to the camera before handing it over.

As the girl got lined up to take the photo, Percy wrapped his arm around my shoulder. I turned toward him and had to suck in a breath as I realized how close we truly were. His eyebrows were raised ever so slightly, as if asking if I was okay with the sudden affection. I gave an imperceptible nod, and a smile immediately lit up his face.

We both turned towards the camera, as the girl took a few shots. Suddenly, I felt lips softly press against my cheek and _holy shit Percy Jackson is giving me a kiss on top of the Eiffel Tower._ I closed my eyes and decided to soak in how perfect this moment was. After a moment, I heard coos and reminded myself that there was a group of girls and one of them had been taking our picture.

A blush overcame me at the sudden display of affection, but as Percy strode over to reclaim his phone, there was not a shred of embarrassment on his face.

“That's a nice picture,” he stated as he turned the phone towards me so I could see. Neither of us even looked remotely like ourselves, but it did look like two people in love.

I gulped and nodded, “Could you send that to me?” I asked, already imaging where I could frame that in my studio.

He typed away on his phone before suddenly bursting out laughing.

“To think, those girls have no idea they just took a picture of two celebrities”

“Or that they had their picture taken by an Olympian,” I countered.

He wiggled his eyebrows, “A devilishly handsome Olympian.”

I couldn't even disagree.

* * *

The afternoon at the Louvre was lovely, well for the most part. You see, Percy is not exactly the type of guy who enjoys quiet contemplation of art. At almost every piece, he cracked some joke or asked me a question.

Every so often he would throw his arm around my shoulder or rest his hand on the small of my back. It was undeniable at this point that there was _something_ between Percy and me. Normally, I would have made a move by now - I was confident he wouldn't reject it.  

However, the timing of this realization couldn't be worse. To initiate something now would be risking distracting him as he approached the most important races of his life.

So, as difficult as it Is, I've decided to wait until we get back to the United States to make a move. Percy, however, was not making this easy on me.

Standing in front of a Pollock painting, daydreaming about how I was going to get through the next 2 weeks, Percy came to stand beside. The warmth on his face was almost enough to make me give up on waiting and just kiss him right there in the Louvre.

His eyes glanced down to my lips, and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, before his eyes settled into an amused expression.

“You got a little something…” he gestured vaguely to the corner of my mouth.

Embarrassed, I wiped the corner of my mouth and looked back to him for confirmation it was gone.

He shook his head, “Here…”

He licked his thumb, and reached over gently. I closed my eyes as his thumb softly touched the corner of my mouth. When I opened my eyes, his eyes were boring into mine with a fire far too intense for the inside of a museum.

For a beat, we stared at each other. Maybe it was my imagination, but it felt like we were drawing closer to one another.

“Excuse me,” an older woman coughed behind us, clearly annoyed by the two of us about to kiss in front of a piece by one of the more famous artists in the Louvre.

I strode away, Percy in tow, thinking that the overwhelming mess that was the painting greatly resembled my feelings at the moment.

“C’mon Jackson, let’s go. There’s one more place I want to go before we head back”

Per the instructions I'd given to the driver, we pulled up in front of a quaint-looking building.

“What's this place?”

“Only the best crepes shop in the world,” I said as I stepped out of the car.

Percy groaned as he followed me, “You know I’m not allowed to eat crepes.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I can’t,” I winked at him as I pulled open the door to the shop.

The smell of freshly baked pastries hit me and took me back to all the times I’d camped out in this cafe over the years. The first time in Paris, I’d been wandering around when a local recommended I come here to try a crepe. Needless to say, I fell in love the minute I walked in the door.

Every time I’ve been in Paris since, I’d made it a point to stop by. After the first few times, I got to know the owners, who knew my name, but couldn’t care less about my fame. It was incredibly refreshing to have a place where I could just escape the pressures of being famous.

The cafe looked out on one of the emptier streets in Paris, with the Eiffel Tower looming in the background. For some reason, the atmosphere - the plants, the smell, the other patrons who always sparked stories in my mind - led this to be my favorite place to write.

In fact, I’d written more than one song at the table in the corner.

I strode up to the counter, where the owner, Marie, was working.

“What can I get for you?” she asked with a heavy French accent.

“Hi Marie, it's Annabeth! I'll have the usual.” I replied, a bright smile cutting across my face.

Instead of noting down my order, she let out a soft scream and came around the corner, wrapping me in her arms.

“Oh I didn't even recognize you. How are you doing, love?”

“I'm great, I have a new album coming out soon. How are you?”

Marie gave a dramatic fake sigh, “So no songs written at the cafe this time? I'm doing great. Better now that I get to see you.”

She glanced over my shoulder and seemed to notice Percy for the first time.

“Who is this?” she whispered, not very quietly, might I add.

I glanced at Percy, who gave me a nod of permission.

“Okay promise you won't freak out or tell anyone?”

Marie's eyes widened in anticipation, but she nodded silently.

I leaned closer, “That's Percy Jackson, the Olympian swimmer.”

“PERCY JACKSON?” She all but shouted, immediately looking sheepish for her outburst.

She glanced back and forth between the two of us, her eyes wide. Percy gave her his signature wink. Politely, she asked for a picture, even though Percy didn't even vaguely look like himself.

After a few minutes of Olympic talk, and Marie assuring us she was rooting for Percy, even though she's lived in France her whole life, we finally sat down in my favorite corner table.

“So I hear you have a new single coming out this Friday?” he began, taking a sip of his water (which is about the only thing he's allowed to have outside of the Olympic-prepared meals, by the way)

I nearly spit out my coffee, remembering that this song was _very_ much about him. While I'd been able to pass _Enchanted_ off as a song about a friend, there were some lines in this song very specifically about green eyes that were obvious as shit.

“Um yeah. I've been sitting on this one for a while. Piper thought maybe people would hear my Olympics song and want to check out something new you know?”

He nodded, “What's it about?”

Involuntarily, a blush spread across my cheeks.

“Uh, you'll just have to listen for yourself,” I tried to say in a flirty, teasing voice, but really it just ended up sounding like I didn't even know what the song was about.

Percy raised his eyebrows, but said nothing more on the subject. After that we jumped into easy conversation about his races. When Percy was talking about something he’s passionate about, it's absolutely fascinating to watch. His eyes light up and he's got a special soft smile

Before I knew it, we were heading back to the village. It was one of those days which i wished would never end. Percy was in the process of taking his disguise off on the way home, sending me sheepish smiles every once in a while.

When we arrived, Percy stepped out and shut the door. Sensing he wasn't ready to walk away yet, I rolled down the window so we could continue chatting.

“So today was fun, you're a good Paris guide,” he began, leaning down slightly so he was closer to window level.

I slightly stuck my head out of the window, “That was only a fraction of the city. Maybe next week we can do more sightseeing.”

He smiled at that, “I’d like that. A lot.”

“Well I hope you have a nice night. Best of luck tomorrow, I believe in you,” I squeezed his hand where it was resting on the car.

“Thanks Annabeth. I'll see you in the stands tomorrow?”

“You don't even have to ask.”

He lightly lifted my hand and planted a soft kiss on it. With a quick wink and a smirk, he strode off, leaving me staring after him like a lovestruck idiot.

Something between us had definitely shifted, now it was just a waiting game to see when one of us would make a move.

* * *

“Did you see this?” Piper asked bursting into my room.

“Hello to you too,” I greeted.

In front of me was some type of celebrity tabloid magazine. On the front cover was the headline, “Here chasing gold or love?” Confused, I glanced at the picture and saw a picture of Percy kissing the hand of a girl in a limo. All that could be seen was her black hair.

I started laughing and Piper shot me a bewildered look.

“What….” She started to ask, but I just held up my finger.

I ran over to my suitcase in the other room and emerged moments later wearing the wig that matched the picture exactly. As soon as Piper saw me, she too began laughing at the media’s confusion.

“Oh thank god,” she breathed in relief, “I stopped to buy some Ben and Jerry's on the way here thinking that we were going to spend the night eating away our feelings about mystery girl here”

“We?” I questioned jokingly.

“C’mon Annabeth, you know I'm invested in this relationship almost as much as you are.”

Both of us burst into peals of laughter for a few minutes. As we were settling down, Piper grabbed the wig and smoothed it out in her hands.

“So what were you and Percy doing that required disguises?” Piper asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

I blushed and ducked my head, “First off - he was wearing a disguise too, but the Seaweed Brain took it off before we got back”

“Mhm” Piper said while leaning back against the couch and crossing her arms.

“We were just exploring Paris together, that's all.”

“So, a date?”

“No Pipes. He asked me to show him around the city since He’s never been.”

Piper shrugged, “Sounds like a date to me.”

I gave her my best glare, but I suspect it fell flat.

“What did you do on this ‘not date, then?”

Involuntarily, I blushed, “We, uh, went to the Eiffel Tower in the morning and then the Louvre in the afternoon. I also took him to that cafe that Marie runs.”

Piper burst out laughing, “Okay, Anna.”

“What?” I questioned.

“Well you did very romantic things in one of the most romantic cities on the planet…”

“Yeah yeah I know. It just didn't really feel like an official date or anything. Just two friends who had a few high tension moments is all.”

“What was that now?”

“Uh. Nothing.”

“Oh c'mon Annabeth, tell me!” she insisted.

“Okay okay,” I gave in, “So he definitely kissed my cheek as we posed for a picture on the Eiffel Tower, which seems like a very non-friends thing to do.”

Piper squealed and insisted I show her the picture, which only led to more squealing. Finally, after she had calmed down, I told her about the almost-kiss in the Louvre.

“I knew it. That boy is crazy about you.”

I said nothing, because there was no argument I could make against that point. And the feelings were reciprocal.

“Well the tabloids are having a field day talking about his fling lifestyle. How he moved on from you to some random French girl.”

“I think I can do something about that…” I said with a wink.

I snatched the wig out of Piper’s hands and a look of realization came across her face. After a few selfies, I finally took one that very greatly resembled the ones in the magazine's.

 _Like my new look?_ ;) I posted to Instagram with barely a seconds hesitation.

Piper looked at me with her hands on her hips, “You do know this is going to spark serious rumors, right? The paparazzi isn't going to leave you alone for the next week now.”

“Were they really going to leave me alone anyways?” I retorted.

Piper laughed in agreement,”No way, especially not after you release Sparks Fly….”

* * *

Percy, as expected, had been crushing it all week.

Wednesday?  Double Gold.

Thursday? Double gold.

Today? Triple gold.

Just one more medal race tomorrow and Percy could make history.

He had been like a machine in the water, leaving competitors in the dust. Even more impressive to me was how calm he seemed swimming on such a huge stage.

The Olympics were arguably the most high stakes place to swim and yet he was goofing off with his teammates in warms ups, cracking jokes in interviews, and shooting me winks in the stands.

Every time I’d roll my eyes at him, which only caused him to smirk. They were silly exchanges, but at his races were the only time we’d been able to see each other.

When we could, we’d Skype in the evenings. With his medal races in full swing, his coach was going overboard on film review and light training. Percy had about an hour of spare time each night, the majority of which we spent talking.

Last night, when the video came up, he was sitting there innocently with his 4 medals hanging around his neck. I laughed at his antics, but I in reality, I was beaming with a pride I've never felt for anyone before.

It was just incredible that such a Seaweed Brain, who was suddenly such an important part of my life, was proving he was one of the best athletes in the world. When hanging out with Percy, it's easy to forget how he's such a high caliber athlete, because he's so down to earth and charming.

It's hard now to imagine my life without him in it.

Something about seeing him live out his dreams ,seeing the pure look of happiness on his face as each medal has been placed around his neck, seeing the tears pool in his eyes as the national anthem played,  Seeing him hug his mom with a ferocity of love that is foreign to me - it all warmed my heart.

There was absolutely no denying it now: I'm in Love with Percy Jackson.

* * *

Later that night, I received a mysterious text from Percy.

**[8:03 p.m.] Meet me at the Olympic Village in 15 minutes.**

I looked outside and saw a torrential downpour. Really? He wants to meet in this? I shrugged, knowing I'd probably walk through a hurricane if he asked.

Grabbing my umbrella, I strolled out into the rain, lost in thought. It was nearly 8 pm and he had a race early tomorrow morning, I wonder what he wanted to meet me for. With three races today, I'm honestly surprised he wasn't passed out already.

Oh gods - I wonder if he heard Sparks Fly. It did drop today, but he’s been so busy I'm not sure he would've listened to it yet. I don't even know what to say if he asks me about it. Confessing to him now would risk throwing him off his game for his final race.

Nerves out in full force, I finally made it to the Olympic Village. In front of me, Percy stood with his back turned, no umbrella in sight.

“I know you like water, Seaweed Brain, but you really enjoy just standing in the rain?” I asked.

Instead of a reply, he took a few large strides towards me and swept me up into a breathtaking kiss. My arms wrapped around his neck as my own umbrella clattered to the ground, forgotten.

“I did what you asked,” he said breathily as he pulled away.

“What?” I asked, genuinely confused.

“You know, dropped everything and met you in the pouring rain…” he grinned as he gestured around to the water falling in sheets all around us.

Words were an impossibility for me right now, so I surged forward and pressed my lips to his urgently. I could taste the rain, feel the smile on his lips and I’m fairly certain this is what heaven on earth is.

After a few minutes, we broke apart to catch our breath.

“Got you with those green eyes, _baby,”_ he teased in a dramatic tone. I was mortified, so I gave him a light slap on his shoulder and started dramatically pulling out of his embrace. Having none of it, he just pulled me back in for another kiss.

“Gods Seaweed Brain you have no idea how long I've wanted to do that,” I whispered, as I pulled back for a moment.

“I take it this means that Enchanted wasn’t actually written about a friend then?” he teased.

Letting out a breathy laugh, I shook my head.

“Well, if it means anything, I was enchanted to meet you too,” he breathed onto my lips, before closing the gap between us once again.

And, _yes,_ if you must know, I did see sparks fly.

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised a (relatively) quick update! Just the epilogue left!

“Don't I get a kiss for good luck?” He asked, hopefully, standing outside the swimming arena.

“Come back with a gold medal and then we’ll talk’” I joked.

He chuckled, but leaned forward to kiss my cheek anyways before heading inside.

This was it. Percy was about to make or break history. I can't imagine what he must be feeling right now because I was a veritable ball of nerves.

After shuffling into my seat, Sally immediately grabbed my hand and gave it a light squeeze. Glad to know I wasn't the only who was nervous.

Since this was such a huge race, we’d been given front row seats. I was close enough that I could see him clearly singing along to _Ready For It_ as he was stretching out. I chuckled to myself, happy that I could help pump him up for this race.

Just before he needed to take his place, he turned towards the stands. Sally waved wildly next to me, but I felt his eyes glued on mine. I gave him a quick wink and blew a kiss.

Like the beautiful dork he was, he faked catching it, and pressed it to his cheek. The camera panned to him as he was introduced. As the stadium erupted in applause, he shot a cheeky grin and pointed finger guns at the crowd.

_Gods I love him._

As the final countdown for the race began, a hush fell over the audience. It seemed that everyone understood the gravity of this race. 100 meters of the butterfly stroke was all that stood between Percy and his 8th gold medal of the games. **[A/N I know the medley relay is usually the last race but I wanted it to be an individual one for the story]**

The athletes took their places. A hush fell over the arena. The gunshot signalling the start of the race sounded, and the place roared as the swimmers plunged into the water. It was short race, so the competitors were packed in tight going into the only turn. One pool length down, one to go.

By this point, nearly everyone in the crowd was on their feet. The cacophony of cheers and noisemakers registered in my head, but in the final 10 meters or so, it’s like everything went silent. All that I could focus on was Percy’s arms, only inches in front of his competitor, stretching towards the wall of the pool.

There was a moment of breathless panic when the announcer didn’t immediately declare the winner, but after a few seconds, Percy’s name flashed on the JumboTron. If the arena was loud before, it was nothing compared to this. Percy pushed up from underneath the water, whipped his goggles and cap off, and immediately started splashing the water in celebration. Pulling himself out of the pool, he haphazardly dried himself before practically running over to the stands.

He immediately engulfed his mom into a hug, before whispering something into her ear. Sally let out a small sob, and I even saw a tear escape from the corner of Percy’s eye too. He glanced at me over her shoulder, a breathtaking smile on his face.

The smile adorning my face was almost to the point of being painful. I was so proud of that ridiculous Seaweed Brain. As he unwrapped himself from her hug, she whispered something to him, causing a grin to come over his face as he moved towards me.  Without a split second of hesitation, he leaned up and pressed his lips fiercely against mine. I heard a collective cheer from the arena, and realized this was our first public display of affection.

It didn't even matter to me. Nobody else in the arena mattered except for the raven-haired man in front of me. He pulled back, a look of pure adrenaline shining in his eyes.

“You did it,” I said simply.

He let out a breathy laugh, “I did it.”

“Thank. You. So. Much. For. Being. Here,” he said, punctuating every word with a light kiss.  

“Of course Seaweed Brain. You mean the world to me - no way I’d miss you becoming the best in it,” I divulged in a rare moment of vulnerability.

Finally, the reporters came over, desperate to get Percy’s immediate reaction. He gave me a sad smile, but backed away from the stands.The first interview, With an Olympics reporter, was broadcast on the screen in the stadium.

“So Percy Jackson, you just made history. How does it feel?” she asked him.

Percy opened his mouth to respond, but the cheering of the crowd overpowered whatever he was about to say. A beautiful smile came over his face as he waved to the crowd.

“Well that about sums up how I feel Janine. Honestly, it feels like I dream and I don't know that I've convinced myself this is all real yet.”

“It most definitely is real! When was the moment during that race that you knew you were going to set the record?”

Percy scratched the back of his neck, “I don't think there was a specific moment. I felt good right from the start, but this race is so quick that you can't afford the luxury of even thinking you're in the lead. I swam that whole race assuming I was in last place and needed to catch up.”

“Well you certainly weren’t in last place,” she joked as the crowd cheered, “One last question for you. Tell me about your support system and how it helped you get to today.”

A truly brilliant smile came across his face, “First and foremost, there's no way in hell I'd be here without my mom. She has supported my dream from day one, even when things were financially tight for us. I love her more than anything in the world and truly can't thank her enough for everything she's done for me.

Of course, I have to thank the fans both in the stadium here and watching at home all around the world for their unwavering support.

And there's one more person I can't forget to mention - Annabeth Chase, the singing goddess herself. Obviously she provided me with some badass pump up music, but also some pretty great inspirational speeches. We've become best friends over the last few months and there isn't anyone else I could imagine by my side here as I broke this record.”

“And maybe a little more than best friends by the look of it,” the reporter teased as Percy strode over to the next interviewer, causing him to blush and run a hand through his hair. Sally turned to me and winked, causing me to blush just as hard.

* * *

 The next week passed in pure bliss. Percy and I spent everyday together. Some days, we cheered on fellow Americans in various Olympic events. Some days we explored the heart of Paris. And some days, well, we just spent in bed.

This whole week had felt like a dream - it was hard to believe it was already the closing ceremony. Unfortunately, that meant tomorrow included facing reality, and more importantly, paparazzi. Percy and I had not exactly been shy this past week when it came to PDA. Undoubtedly, there will be a crew of reporters waiting at the airport to ask me all too personal details about our relationship.

When I complained about this to Percy, he simply told me that he’d put up with paparazzi every day for the rest of his life if it meant we got to be together. Yeah, turns out the Olympic gold medal record holder was a bit of a sap…

Not that I'm complaining.

In a small chance of luck, Percy and I were flying home separately, and to different airports. I was hoping this would ward off at least some reporters, since they wouldn’t be able to get that “juicy” first picture of us together in the United States.

That also meant Percy and I were heading to different coasts tomorrow - him to New York to spend time with his family and me back to Los Angeles to continue promoting my album. Percy assured me he'd be back in Los Angeles in a couple of weeks, but that still felt like a long time. I'd grown used to spending nearly every day with him this past week, it was hard to imagine multiple weeks apart.

At the ceremony, Piper and I were escorted to our seats with relative ease. After only a few quick photos we settled in to watch the closing ceremony. Or so I thought. Piper immediately began peppering me with questions about my new relationship with Percy.

Luckily for me, the flag march began shortly after, cutting off Pipers incessant questioning.  It was wonderful to see the sense of accomplishment on so many of the athletes

I was enjoying seeing the various standouts from each of the countries carrying their flags when suddenly there was a deafening roar in the stadium. Looking closer, I saw that they were cheering a certain athlete with 8 medals around his neck.  Sure enough, there was Percy, _carrying the flag._

What the hell???

He didn’t tell me they offered to let him do that! I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, he did make history with his medal count. The smile on his face was blinding, even from this distance.

As he strode around the concourse with the flag in one hand, I saw him holding his phone in front of his face. He was recording something but who knows what it was. The camera panned to him and I could clearly make out the words “I love you.” Maybe he was video chatting his mom or something.

I brushed it aside as the flag bearers finally made it into formation for the rest of the athletes to march in around them. In a stroke of luck, Percy was poised directly in my line of sight. As the rest of the athletes came in, I saw him taking endless pictures with athletes from all over the world. Particularly after his performance at the games, he was a high caliber celebrity.

At one point there was actually a line of people waiting for a picture or to shake his hand and congratulate him. While that must've been exhausting, Percy being his beautiful self, had a bright smile that never left his face as he interacted with everyone.

Every so often in the down times, he would send me a Snapchat with some other famous athlete or of him holding the flag. At one point, I responded and told him to just enjoy himself and not worry about sending me snaps.

_I couldn't enjoy this without you_ , he captioned a photo of him with his hand over his heart.

A few minutes later, the procession of athletes was done and the flag bearers were allowed to join in the celebration in the stands. Within minutes, Percy sent me a video of him taking a shot of god knows what from a flask. Let the party begin, I guess…

* * *

 Later that night Percy and I met up one more time at the Olympic Village. Mostly, it was him packing, which he had, of course, left for the last minute. After some time, everything had been packed except for his medals, as he insisted those should stay on his person for the duration of the trip home. I can't blame him, that was his life's achievement - I wouldn't want that going through a baggage claim either.

“You want to try one on?” he asked with a grin.

“Only if we pretend like it's a medal ceremony,” I joked.

Instead of laughing, Percy dragged the desk chair over and motioned to me. I laughed incredulously as I stepped into the chair, now a good head taller than Percy.

With his best announcer voice, Percy belted, “And From the United States, Annabeth Chase,”

I leaned over so he could slip the medal around my neck. As he slipped it on, he placed a soft kiss on the crown of my head.

I stood back up and gave an overly dramatic wave. Percy laughed and then strode back over to the desk and grabbed all of his other medals. When I came down from the chair, he looped them all around my neck.

He took a step back, beaming at me. As he was digging around in his pocket for his phone, It struck me that these 8 medals were the culmination of years of work in Percy’s life and he was casually letting me wear them.

I heard the click of a camera and my head snapped up to Percy, whose phone was pointed in my direction.

“Oh C'mon Wise Girl, you just won 8 medals, show the camera some love,” he teased, causing me to burst out laughing.

Just to appease him, I struck some very staged poses. We both knew the struggles of photoshoots all too well, particularly ones that are overly staged. After a few moments, he strode over to me and swept me into a breathtaking kiss.

“You’re incredible,” he whispered.

“I’m not the one who won 8 medals,” I whispered back.

He laughed and pulled away, turning his phone towards me so I could see the picture he’d taken earlier.

“I’m about to be basic as fuck and post this to Instagram with a cheesy caption. Fair warning,” he said, already typing on his phone.

“Well at least let me read it before you post it,” I said, trying to peek over his shoulder at what he was typing.

“Fine. Fine. Give me a minute.”

I sat patiently, soaking in every detail of his face as he concentrated far too hard for an Instagram post. His eyebrows were scrunched up in that adorable way that happens when he concentrates too much. A piece of his hair was flopping down into his face, causing him to blow it off his eyes in a way that was far too cute for an Olympic athlete.

Those green, green eyes shifted up to meet mine. He gave me a quick wink and passed his phone over. My breath hitched in my throat as I read the caption he chose.

_Looks like I won more than just medals in Paris..._

“I take it that means you like it?” he asked with a grin

In response, I tackled him onto the bed with a kiss. There wasn’t a lot of talking the rest of the night. Laying wrapped up in Percy’s arms later that evening, I felt the flutter of promise settle into my chest. This felt like the start of something permanent.

  



	11. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY!!
> 
> Yeah I promised it would be fast update and then went like a month. So so so sorry! I really struggled perfecting some of the ideas in here, but hopefully you like what I've come up with. This is a pretty fluffy chapter so get ready for some fuzzy feelings to finish off the story :) 
> 
> Without further ado, here is the final installation in Stars and Stripes and Stars

**[Later that Year]**

Percy hopped out of the limo and stretched his hand towards me. As he helped me out, he whispered, “You look magnificent,”

With a kiss on the cheek, we strode into the red carpet, posing for photos with fans and the paparazzi every couple of feet.

“Ms. Chase,” a reporter from E called out. I gave a small nod to Percy and we strode over. He kept his hand pressed to the small of my back, which was a much-needed reassurance.

“How does it feel to be nominated for album of the year for your second album in a row?” the reporter asked.

“Honestly, it's a dream come true. As many of you know, this past year has been filled with all kinds of ups and downs for me. I set out to write an album which spoke my truth. To have that resonate with people all over the world means so incredibly much to me.”

“Well it seems like you may have finally gotten your happily ever after,” she said looking between Percy and I, both of us blushing, “Enjoy your evening.”

We thanked her and continued inside the venue. As soon as I stepped through the doors, a mini panic attack came over me. I took a few deep breaths trying to calm my nerves. By this point, Percy noticed that I was freaking out and pulled me off to a side hallway.

“Hey, it's Okay,” he comforted, wrapping me in a hug, “You made it this far, tonight is just about enjoying your success.”

Somehow he always knew just what to say to calm me down. I gave him a quick kiss in thanks, which he quickly deepened. After a few minutes of making out (miraculously uninterrupted), we made our way back to the main hallway.

Once there,an usher greeted us and led us to our seats. Almost immediately upon sitting down, our table was swarmed with people who wanted to congratulate Percy on his Olympic success. He shot me a regretful smile as he talked to them.

It wasn't that I was jealous of the attention - I knew far too well what is was like to be mobbed by fans wanting to have their 5 minute conversation with a celebrity. Spoiler alert, it usually wasn't very pleasant for the person of attention. More so, I was looking to enjoy this evening with Percy's company, but already his attention has been stolen away.

Since these conversations did not involve me in the slightest, I gave Percy a pat on the hand and left the table. I started strolling around the room, looking for a familiar face that I could talk to.

Without looking where I was going, I naturally ran into someone. I started to apologize as I turned towards the person, only to be met with blonde hair and blue eyes that I wish I could forget.

“Annabeth,” Luke greeted with a wolfish smile.

I said nothing in return, just gave a curt head nod with a tight smile.

Luke looked over my shoulder, “I see you and fish boy finally got together.”

Feeling unreasonably angry that this night had the possibility to be ruined by Luke of all people, I snapped back, “Yes, well he actually cares about me, unlike some people I've dated.”

He winced slightly, “Oh c'mon Annabeth. Of course I cared for you. I still do.”

He reached for my hand, and I swiftly pulled out of his grasp. I plastered on an overly large smile, “Kindly stay out of my life forever, Luke.”

Brushing past him, I made my way to the bar where I ordered what I considered to be a well-earned champagne. After downing that one, I ordered another against my better judgement. Just as the glass touched my lips, an announcement came on, indicating everyone needed to head to their seats.

I came back to a clear table, with Percy drumming his fingers and looking around the room. When he saw me approach, his face lit up in a smile, and he stood to give me a kiss on the cheek.

“Are you ready for it?” he whispered into my ear.

I rolled my eyes and gave him a playful shove. Carefully, I sat down, trying not to wrinkle my dress too much.

After a while, the awards started to blend together. With each category that wasn’t mine, my nerves grew even higher. I hadn’t been asked to perform tonight, which was fine by me - it was one less thing I had to worry about.

After an immensely long evening, the legendary singer Apollo came onto the stage for the final award of the night - Album of the Year. The crowd stood in ovation as Apollo approached the microphone. He made some joke that caused the crowd to chuckle, but I could barely hear because of the blood roaring in my ears. Then he pointed to the screen, and they began to announce the nominees.

When they announced my name and played a clip of Sparks Fly, Percy leaned over to kiss my cheek. The camera panned to me just then, earning a collective coo from the audience. They introduced the rest of the nominees and by now I was so nervous I was nearly sick to my stomach.

“And the Grammy goes to,” Apollo announced as he pried the envelope open, “Annabeth Chase!”

Percy jumped out of seat and was leading the chorus of applause. I, on the other hand, was frozen in my seat - hardly comprehending that this was real. Obviously, deep down I hoped I would win. But as a celebrity, I'd developed a defense mechanism which involved convincing myself I wasn't going to win so that I couldn't possibly be disappointed.

I felt like I was in a trance as I floated to the stage, other musicians congratulating me as I went. Luckily, I managed to make it up the stairs without tripping over my feet.

Apollo was grinning at me, probably remembering this wide-eyed feeling he’d had when he won. With slightly shaky hands, I accepted the statue. The applause died down as I approached the microphone. I had practiced this speech so many times over the last few days I was fairly certain I could recite it in my sleep.

“There are so many people I need to thank. First and foremost, my agent Piper for giving me the opportunities to create the music I love. Thank you to the entire team at Olympic records and to my band for indulging my creative rambling sessions.”

“But especially, I want to thank a certain Olympic swimmer,” I paused as the audience erupted in cheers. Percy was grinning at me with definite tears in his eyes

“Percy, you're the reason this award is in my hands right now. Not only were you an inspiration for at least half the songs on this album, but your encouragement throughout the production kept me going, even when I wanted to give up on it

“And I would say to anyone out there who has been on the fence about something - applying for that job, telling someone how you feel, learning that new language - do it. Your dreams can't come true if you never take that first step. And trust me, I know how giant and scary that first step can seem, but to live filled with regret is no way to live at all.

“It might not work out in every case, but then again it might. And it might just change your life. Thank you. “

The crowd stood, cheering, but my eyes were focused on only one person, who was positively beaming. ‘I love you’ I mouthed to Percy as I was walking off the stage.

And those were the most important words I'd said all evening

* * *

**[2022]**

I came home to find the house empty, which was strange. Usually Percy had a break from training during dinner time.

“Perce?” I called out, but heard nothing in return.

Finally I heard something that sounded like the TV. I strode in and found it was on. Strange. I squinted as the clearly homemade video swirled around until it finally focused in on...Percy carrying a flag?

Wait that looked like the uniform from the last Olympic Games. What was this?

“Hey Annabeth, I bet you're a little confused right now,” he chuckled and a few of the other athletes around him cheered and waved their flags around

He tightened his grip around the flagpole, “I, uh, just made history I guess. And it's great that all these people are cheering for me, but all I really want is to celebrate with you.”

“Annabeth Chase, I love you,” he said, staring earnestly into the camera, before laughing.

“Gosh it's weird saying all this to a phone knowing you won't see it for years.”

My heart raced as I realized he confessed his love to me literally days after we started dating. He didn't say it to my face until about 6 months into our relationship. He loved me for 6 months before telling me?!

“Anyways, I hope no one is listening in because I have a kind of strange question to ask you,” he peered around dramatically and found that everyone was too absorbed in just generally being wild during the closing ceremony.

“So here goes: Will you marry me?”

I dropped my coffee on the floor. He winked at the camera and the video cut out.

Despite my state of shock, I heard the French doors behind me open up into the reading room. The entire room was lit with dozens of candles. At the far side of it was Percy, dressed in his well-tailored suit that I adored, down on one knee.

My feet moved into the room of their own accord, stopping a few feet in front of Percy. He dug in his coat pocket and pulled out a small velvet box.

My heart slowed as he opened it.

“So what do ya say? Will you marry me Wise Girl?”

I dropped to my knees in front of him and grabbed his face with both of my hands, “Of course, Seaweed Brain.”

We both had tears in our eyes as he slipped the absolutely gorgeous ring onto my finger. The kiss we shared after was the most passionate one we’ve had.

Later that night, after we were done celebrating our new relationship status, we were curled up in bed. Percy’s arms were wrapped around me. He was running his fingers over my ring, smiling softly.

Something permanent, alright.

* * *

**[2023]**

Our wedding was, of course, on the beach. Percy didn't have to do too much convincing, as the beaches of Puerto Rico were like something out of a dream.  Our venue offered the ceremony on the beach, followed by a reception only steps away that still offered incredible views.

It was a small ceremony, filled with only the closest family and friends. And most importantly, free from paparazzi. Piper and Chiron did insist that we leak a few photos to the press once we were done, but at least we got to choose what photos.

My dress was - well there's no other way to put this - simply spectacular. Piper was related to the legendary gown designer Aphrodite, who was all too happy to design a gown for what she deemed ‘the wedding of the century’.

It had cap sleeves and a gorgeous flowing lower half, complete with an impressively long train. The best part? It fit me like a glove, as Aphrodite had taken more measurements than I've ever seen from a dress designer.

As I slipped it on in the dressing room, thanks to help from Piper and Thalia, tears pooled in my eyes. I practically had to pinch myself to confirm that this was all real.

“Annabeth, you look incredible,” Thalia breathed in a rare moment of sincerity.

Just then a knock came at the door and Sally Jackson slipped into the room. She took one look at me, placed a hand over her heart and swiftly strolled toward me, enveloping me in a hug.

“You look gorgeous  my darling” she said teary eyed. My heart was overflowing with motherly love I never got to experience growing up.

While I had technically invited my mother (at the insistence of Percy), I had not extended her an invitation to help me get ready for the ceremony. Sally was like the mother I never had. Though I suppose in a few hours, we would officially be family.

A few more last minute touch ups and suddenly the ceremony was starting. Considering my father and I always had a strained relationship, I opted to walk myself down the aisle.

My turn to walk came up faster than expected. With a deep breath, I rounded the corner to the aisle. There were dozens of eyes on me, but mine were trained on the sea green pair waiting for me on the altar.

In a very Percy fashion, he was dressed in a pair of khakis rolled up at the ankles, a loose white dress shirt, and a blue blazer. In other words, he looked ridiculously attractive.

As he took me in, a blinding smile took residence on his  face. I even saw a few tears escape from the corners of his eyes. This caused me to tear up, and I let out a watery laugh at the fact that we were being so emotional right now.

Luckily, Percy didn't take offense and instead let out his own chuckle as I took my final steps to meet him at the altar. I handed Piper my bouquet and she wrapped me in a tight hug before taking her spot once more.

As I turned back to my soon-to-be husband (wow that felt weird to say), he extended his hand towards me. When I took it, he leaned in close to whisper,

“This night is flawless, don't you let it go”

With a breathless laugh I rolled my eyes, “I can't believe I agreed to this.”

“Oh c'mon, you know you were so Enchanted to meet me, ” he teased with a shit eating grin. Once again, I rolled my eyes, which Percy took as a signal to kiss my cheek. I heard the crowd coo behind me.

Bless her heart, our official had been patiently waiting for our little conversation to end before kicking off the ceremony.

The rest passed in the blink of an eye. Percy cried when I read my vows and I cried when he read his. Not that I would've noticed anyone other than my Seaweed Brain, but Piper later told me that just about everyone in attendance cried through both of our vows.

My hands were shaky as I grabbed Percy's wedding band from Piper, but as I went to place it on his hand, they were steady as ever. When it was Percy's turn, he gave my hand a light kiss after he slid the ring on.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the groom,” she said, giving me a wink.

Percy looked slightly confused for a moment, but gave a slight shrug as we sprang forward towards each other. It wasn't our most beautiful kiss, mainly because we were both smiling so wide that our teeth ended up knocking against each other. We pulled back momentarily, giggling before he pulled me in for a proper kiss, even dipping me down like you see in the movies.

After a minute or so, we turned towards our friends and family to see they were all standing and applauding. Sally had clear tear tracks streaming down her face, and I even noticed my dad trying to discreetly wipe away a few tears. My mother was, of course, as stoic as ever.

Later that night, despite my insistence against it, Percy convinced the DJ to play Enchanted. When the opening chords came through the speakers, I blushed, assuming my guests must think I'm arrogant for playing my own music at my wedding.

Just then, the DJ announced, “Ladies and gentleman, this is a very special song- the very first song Annabeth ever wrote about Percy! Why don't we have everyone off the dance floor and let the couple share a special dance.”

I let out a soft groan and turned in my seat to stand, only to find Percy bowing before me, hand extended.

“May I have this dance, madam? “

“I don't think we have a choice,” I muttered while taking his hand.

Once we got onto the dance floor, Percy pulled me close. We swayed to the beat, and despite my initial hesitation, this moment was like something out of a dream.

It was hard to believe that only a few years ago, I wrote this song, dreaming of a time when Percy and I could be together. Now here we were, _married._

Percy broke me out of my thoughts as he whispered my name. I lifted my head from his shoulders and stared into his eyes. They sparkled with a love that nearly took my breath away.

“My only regret in this life is not telling you sooner that I was enchanted to meet you too.”

And in that moment, it kind of felt like fairytales were real and I was living in one of the happily ever afters.

* * *

**[2024]**

Opening my eyes, I saw that Percy’s side of the bed was empty. With the 2024 games looming just over 5 months away, Percy was already on a strict training schedule.

I thought about calling out to him to see if he was still in the house when suddenly, a wave of nausea overcame me. I rushed to the bathroom and only just made it before I emptied the contents of my stomach.

Immediately after, I felt fine. Weird. I wonder if I'm getting sick. Maybe Percy can take me to the doctor during his break later.

Then, like a revelation, I realized that my period was due two weeks ago and I hadn't even noticed.

_Oh._

* * *

 The next 9 months passed in a blur. Slowly, my stomach began to bulge, and every single day, Percy would kiss it goodbye before he left for training.

When he first found out, Percy had tried to argue that he should quit training for the Olympics so that he could help me through the pregnancy. I promptly told him there was no way I was letting him throw away 3 years of training when I very well could make it through the first 5 months on my own.

Sure, there were days when my cravings hit full force and I was bummed Percy wasn't there to run out and grab me things. But I always texted him anyways, and every night he'd come with everything I'd been craving throughout the day and more. Our cabinet was becoming an eclectic collection of things -pickles, saltines, black beans, Cheez-Its…. The list goes on and on.

Luckily, when my check up came up, he somehow convinced his coach to give him a few hours off so he could come to the doctor with me.

I let out a soft yelp when they poured the cold goop onto my stomach, which earned a laugh from Percy. I glared at him, but lost all traces or frustration when I heard a fast thumping coming from the monitor.

“Is that… “ I asked breathless.

“Your baby's heartbeat? Yes. Nice and strong. The baby is healthy and developing great.”

Percy grabbed my hand, and we just sat in silence for a few minutes listening to the heartbeat. Meanwhile the doctor was jotting down all kinds of notes.

Eventually she turned towards us with a soft smile on her face, “Would you like to know the sex of your baby?”

“Yes” Percy blurted out, just as I said “No, thanks”

We turned to look at each other with bewildered faces. The doctor chuckled and told us she'd be back in a few minutes after we'd had a chance to talk it over.”

“Oh c'mon Annabeth, aren't you curious?” Percy asked the second the doctor left the room.

“A little, but I think it would be amazing to be surprised. Also does it really matter to know now? Are you going to prepare any differently?” I asked.

Percy smiled down at me, fully aware of how I felt about gender being forced onto babies.

“Alright you convinced me. We can wait,” he agreed as he kissed the top of my head.

“You have to promise you won't ask behind my back. Not like that episode of Friends,” I joked

“Neutral gender scouts honor” Percy joked as he held his hand up.

* * *

**[2025]**

“Push just a little more Annabeth,” the midwife encouraged.

I let out a soft scream and squeezed Percy’s hand impossibly tighter.

Finally, after what felt like eternity, I heard small cries ring out in the delivery room. My whole body sagged with relief. I saw Percy's face light up in a new smile I'd never seen before. I tried to crane my neck to catch a glimpse of our child, but they had already taken the baby away to clean it up.

After a minute the midwife came back, cradling a small bundle in her arms,

“Congratulations, it’s a healthy baby girl,” she announced, “Are you ready to meet your daughter?”

Percy and I nodded with tears in our eyes. The midwife strode over to me and placed her gently on my arms. For the first time in my life, I felt wholly and utterly complete. It was like a piece of the puzzle I didn’t even know was missing was finally put into place.

“Hi” I said to her with a watery smile.

“She’s beautiful,” Percy whispered, leaning down and pressing his forehead against mine.

Glancing up at Percy, I saw that he too had tears pooling in his eyes. She yawned just then, causing both of us to coo.

“Can you believe we made this little human?” He joked

“Have you decided what you'll name her?” the nurse asked softly.

“What about Zoe?”I suggested, remembering the childhood friend Percy lost of the same name.

Percy gave me a breathtaking smile, before whispering, “It’s perfect.”

The nurse strolled off, presumably to enter the information.

Percy asked to hold her, so we carefully passed her between us.

Smiling down at her, her carefully stroked the top of her head, “Welcome to the world, Zoe Jackson, you’re going to love it.”

* * *

[ **2029]**

“Alright sweetie, go ahead and jump in,” Percy encouraged.

Zoe shook her head, looking terrified of the pool in front of her.

“Don't worry honey, I'm right here. I’ll catch you.”

“No I'm scared,” she replied.

Deciding to help out, I strode over and sat next to her at the edge of the pool. I rubbed her tiny back and asked her what she was scared of.

“If I fall I'll go under the water! It's not….its not….”

“Solid? Like the floor?” I asked, guessing that was a word she still had yet to learn.

She nodded and I tried to think of a way to encourage her to face that fear. Like a lightbulb, I realized something.

“Did you know that they make solid pools?”

With wide eyes, she looked at me as if this were the most innovative thing she'd ever heard of.

“Yeah you can skate around on them. Do you want to learn how to skate?”

She nodded eagerly, causing me to smile.

“Alright I'll teach you how to skate if you make a deal with me.”

“What is it, mommy?” she questioned.

“I'll teach you how to skate if you go swimming with daddy,” I said pointing to Percy, who was looking on curiously.

“Okay. Pinky promise?” she asked, sticking a tiny pinky out.

I looped my pinky around hers and gave her a kiss on the top of the head, “Alright go on, jump in.”

Without hesitation, she stood and jumped into the water. Percy was almost caught off guard, luckily scooped her up just in time. She giggled as Percy swam her around. He was making all kinds of weird sound effects as they splashed around in the pool. To be honest, I’m not sure whether Zoe or Percy was having more fun….

Later that night, Percy came downstairs after putting Zoe to bed.

“Well, I think that went great! Swimming might run in the family!” He beamed.

I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I promised to take her skating. In fact, I was going to take her tomorrow while he was swimming laps.

“Yeah, once we got her in the water she seemed to enjoy it,” I replied.

Percy hummed in agreement.

“Annabeth, how do you feel about starting her young with training? I think she has the potential to go far, but we’d need to start young,” he asked, excitement still evident in his voice.

I sighed, “Perce, I’m fine if that’s what she _wants_ to do. I love you and I love your passion for swimming, I just don’t want to force that on her if she’s not interested.”

“Yeah, I understand,” Percy replied forlornly.

“Why don’t you ask her in a few days if she wants to go swimming and we can take it from there?”

He agreed, and sure enough, only two days later, Percy questioned her while she was eating her breakfast.

“Do you want to go swimming today?” Percy asked hopefully.

“No I want to go skating,” she replied without a moment's hesitation, “Like Mommy taught me.”

Percy looked at me, horrified, “What have you done?”

* * *

**[2044]**

“Welcome to the 2044 Winter Olympics in Toronto!” Percy was bundled up in a full winter jacket, hat, gloves, scarf, and he was still rubbing his arms as if he were cold.

“Percy, we’re _inside_ for Pete’s sake.”

“Exactly! It's not natural for the inside of a building to be this cold,” he replied dramatically.

I rolled my eyes and muttered, “Seaweed Brain.”

“And while we’re at it, I think it is a travesty that they would freeze perfectly good water like this.”

I rolled my eyes and focused my gaze back down on the rink. One of the skaters was just finishing up. The audience clapped while she skated off the ice.

Percy was about to make some comment, presumably about how cold he was when the announcer’s voice boomed over the stadium.

“Now skating for the United States of America, Zoe Jackson!”

Both of us stood and cheered like idiots as she skated onto the ice. She waved at us as she got set in the center of the rink. If I thought I was nervous when Percy was competing at the Olympics, it was nothing compared to seeing my daughter poised to skate her first Olympic routine.

The program started and she effortlessly glided around the rink with unparalleled grace. Every single one of her jumps had an absolutely perfect landing. Even from my vantage point in the stands, I could see her grin grow with every move that she landed.

Percy and I go to every single one of her competitions, and this was by far the best performance she’d ever given. With only a few moves left, Percy and I made eye contact, tears of pride already shining in our eyes.

With a final twirl, she finished her program and was met with deafening applause from the audience. She fell to her knees in the middle of the arena, overcome with emotion. After a few minutes, she made her way over to the waiting area for scores. Immediately, she was engulfed in hugs from her teammates and coaches, and I wish I could have given her one right now too.

Percy and I had a death grip on each others hands as we nervously waited for the announcement. Unsurprisingly, however, her score put her well into first place, scoring nearly perfect on every element. After the score was reported the crowd went wild, but no one more so than me and Percy. There were only two skaters left, so she was at least guaranteed a bronze medal.

Zoe was positively beaming as she made it over to the press area. A reporter came over and asked her how she felt about the performance and what it was like skating in the Olympics. After a few more questions, the conversation turned towards her parents, as it so often did. Zoe was always a trooper about it, but I’m sure it was hard having two celebrities for parents and the world constantly wanting to know about that aspect of your life.

This time, she answered the question with a blinding smile and a shrug.  

“What can I say, my mom passed her love of performance down and my dad passed his love of water down to me, albeit in a slightly different form.”

She winked at the camera and I turned to look at Percy, who had tears pooling in his eyes.  

“And they both passed on their passion, which has led me to get as far as I have. I would not be here without them and their unwavering support of my dream. I love you mom and dad!”

I think it was the best moment of my life. I have never been more proud or full of love. Percy’s hand in mine was reassurance that we had done it together -- and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I nudged Percy's shoulder and teased, "You still upset that she wouldn't learn how to swim?"

He wrapped his arm around my shoulder, and pressed a kiss into the top of my head, “I think I’ll manage to get over it somehow…”

* * *

Just about an hour later, it was official - the Jackson family had one more gold medal to add to our collection.

And to think, it all started with a fundraiser.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna be a little cheesy here, but thanks so much to any who has read this or supported over the literal years it took me to write. It started as just a quick headcanon but grew into a full-blown story over time! I wasn't expecting the support it got and it really means the world to me that this story resonated, even if it was just with one person! 
> 
> Thanks again, and for those who stuck with it over its life, *thank you thank you thank you* for your patience as I sometimes went absurd amounts of time without updating it.
> 
> Now that I've finished this I'll be diving into some other ideas I've had - stay tuned! :)


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